Two Months Together 'Original'
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: - This is honestly probably the worst thing I have ever written. So, to remedy that, I'm revising it completely, top to bottom. Once enough people have found out about that, I will delete this. No arguments can be made to save it. But please check out the new one when an actual proper chapter is up.
1. Can You Say 'Uh Oh?

_Dear Mione,_

_I want to know the name of your fancy-pants school NOW, Mione. I hate having to send my letters to Uncle Tom and Aunt Patricia; it's sending me off my rocker! _

_Are you ready for the end of the school year, though? I am, and so are Daniel and Phillip! Phil's going nuts with excitement, he can't wait until school's over and we get to live with you for a month! YAY!_

_You are getting a makeover this year, cousin, because your bushy hair is frightening me. And all you ever wear are jeans and t-shirts! No wonder you've never had a boyfriend. No offense, of course, you know I love you, but…I want to see you happy Mione. We all do. Because we LAAAAAAAV you. :)_

_With love and sugar cakes,_

_Alicia _

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gryffindor Table.

Hermione Granger sat on the bench at breakfast, sandwiched between her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Ron was currently stuffing his face while Harry was talking to Ron's sister, Ginny, across the table.

Hermione looked up when she heard a hoot, and there was an owl swooping down to the students as more feathered friends followed. She smiled when two owls came, one with her Daily Prophet and one holding two letters. She paid the first owl and got the two letters from the grey speckled one.

She read her cousin's letter and sighed. She didn't like Alicia's makeovers because it always stopped when a brush got caught in her hair or Daniel started shooting spitballs at Alicia and Alicia had to stop what she was doing and go murder him. But Hermione didn't like the makeovers anyway, because she didn't really care how she looked, and only the female members of her family cared.

She opened up the letter from her parents and smiled as she read it.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Mother here, telling you that your father __**finally**__ got an owl. Its name is Speckles, and it's the one that delivered the mail. Your father keeps forgetting it's in the house and he screams when it hoots or squawks. I, however, find it very amusing, since he does a short excerpt of The Wasp Dance. _

_Daniel, Alicia, and Phillip are staying for a month over the summer, Hermione, as I'm sure Alicia wrote to you about. I have been out of my wits end with cleaning the house, trying to hide the boxes we still haven't unpacked, but after I've cleaned, your father makes a mess. That man, I swear!_

_But I've missed you terribly, Hermione. I can't wait until school stops for you, so I can have my bushy-headed bookworm back. At least for a few months._

_Love,_

_Mother_

Ron looked over her shoulder with his mouth full and said, "Buppy bedded boowa?"

Hermione looked over at him with a disgusted look on her face, "Ugh, Ronald, _swallow_ before you talk."

Ron gulped down the food in his mouth, "Your mum calls you a 'bushy-headed bookworm'?"

"Yes. I don't change much when I'm at home, Ron," Hermione frowned.

Ginny looked over at Hermione and said, "What are your plans for the summer, Mione?"

She smiled as she looked at the redhead, "Well, my cousins Daniel, Alicia, and Phillip are going to stay for a month! Then I don't know what I'll do, I guess I'll go to the bookstore and see if they have the new Hunger Games book out."

Ginny smiled, "Ron and I are going to have Quidditch games all the time. I'll bet you anything that I'll win all of them!"

Ron frowned, "Hey! I'm getting better!"

Alicia Spinnet leaned into the conversation for a minute, "But not much!"

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin Table.

Draco Malfoy sat sandwiched between Pansy Parkinson and Goyle. And he didn't look happy about it at all.

The first owl that swooped in was his father's, and it zoomed to the white-blonde haired boy fast. It fluttered to a stop before stepping into his food.

Draco read the letter dully, and at the end his mouth twitched into a smile.

_Dear Draco,_

_Your father is too busy to write – again. Bank accounts and blah blah blah, it's really just a blur to me, you know. _

_Your aunt Silvia had a baby, a little girl named Catrina! She's the cutest thing in Britain, but you'll see soon enough when they stay a few weeks during your summer vacation. _

_Draco, do you have a girlfriend? I'm only asking because my hairdresser has a daughter around your age who would like to go on a date with you. I told her I would have to ask, because you never tell your nutty mum anything anymore. _

_Love,_

_Narcissa_

Pansy looked over and read the beginning of the last paragraph, "Ooooh, Draco, _do_ you have a girlfriend?"

Draco's mouth turned back into the dull straight line, "No, I don't. You know that."

Blaise Zabini looked up from his eggs, "Thought you were dating that one girl…."

Draco shook his head, "Ended that a month ago."

"What about that blonde one?"

"Ended that four weeks ago."

"What about – "

"Ended _that_ last year!"

"You never tell me anything. I feel like your mum," Blaise sniffed, pretending to cry, "Why don't you tell us anything, Draco?"

"I tell my mum things I want to, but I don't tell you anything because you're so freakin' _weird_," Draco drawled. With that he put the letter in his robe pocket and stood up, "I have to go to Potions."

Blaise put in a spoonful of eggs and said, "Dun bloo Herm-own-ninny uff!"

Draco turned around and stared at him, "What the bloody he-"

Blaise coughed, "Don't blow Hermione up!"

Draco arched an eyebrow, "Why would I blow her up?"

"How the heck should I know? You tell me nothing, remember?"

"Oh right." And then he walked away.

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dungeon Hallway

Hermione leaned against the cool brick wall as Ron talked about summer and how he was going to beat his little sister at Quidditch. Harry rolled his eyes and looked behind him to see her close her eyes and exhale.

"Shhh," Harry whispered to Ron, "Mione's sleeping."

Ron looked over Harry's shoulder and sighed, "That's what she gets for studying twenty-four-seven."

Snape opened the door and said, "Enter." Hermione opened her eyes and followed Harry through the door. As the three were about to sit down at their usual table, Snape stopped them.

"We're having assigned seats," Snape announced, "If it works out then I shall continue to use them next year." He accioed a paper from his desk and stood in front of the first table before calling out two names, "Weasley and Longbottom."

After a few minutes, Snape had made it to the back of the room, where only two tables were left.

"Malfoy…" Snape said, pointing to one seat. Hermione silently chanted in her head _Not me, not me, not me, not me_….

"Granger," Snape said at last, pointing at the chair to the right of Draco's. Hermione sighed and looked over at Harry, who was next to Hannah Abbott. Harry gave her a sympathetic look, while Ron had his mouth hanging wide open.

"Today," Snape said once he was at the front of the room again, "You will be making a shrinking potion as partners." He then flicked his wand at the board, which wrote down the ingredients, "Continue." Then he sat down at his desk.

"Ugh," Draco muttered as he stared down into their cauldron, "Smells like something died in here."

"It's a cauldron, Malfoy. It's not like it's supposed to smell like a spring breeze," Hermione said as she grabbed a daisy root.

Draco got a root too and began cutting. And they didn't talk again as they made their potion.

Which could be why it exploded in their faces a few minutes later.

Hermione stared down into the smoking cauldron, unable to see the liquid or a bottom. She looked over at Draco, whose face was black and his usually slicked back hair looked like a punk rockstar had taken to it.

Snape appeared at the front of their table, his face smeared black too, and he growled, "Go…to…Dumbledore…NOW!"

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster's Office

Draco looked over at Hermione as she stared at the ground as her feet lazily kicked the chair. He looked down at his hands in his lap and wondered how his father was going to kill him.

"The biggest explosion in Hogwarts history!" Professor McGonagall screeched as she walked into the room with Professor Snape, "What were you two _thinking_? Better yet, what were you doing?"

"I-I-I," Hermione stammered. She had never seen McGonagall _this_ mad, "It w-w-was an a-a-accident."

"We, we," Draco gulped, "Didn't mean to."

Dumbledore finally decided to make his entrance. He looked at the two hard, then turned to his colleagues, "I will take care of this."

Snape quirked an eyebrow in shock, "You wish us to leave?"

"Yes, that's what I meant," Dumbledore said, giving him a weary smile. Snape had to steer a shocked-beyond-words McGonagall out the door.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk and stared at the two students, Draco as pale as Nearly Headless Nick and Hermione looking as if she were about to faint.

He grabbed something from the top of his desk and held it out to them, "Lemon drop?"

Draco blinked and some color returned to his face, "Do wha?"

Hermione looked at Dumbledore with surprise, "Huh?"

"Lemon drops. Surely _you_ have heard of them, Hermione."

"I know what a lemon drop is, Headmaster," Hermione said. Draco saw something glistening on her cheek and realized that she had been crying.

"Would you like one?" Dumbledore smiled. Hermione numbly took one from the tin, popped it in her mouth, and let it sit there. He then offered one to Draco, who got one as well, then stared at it as if he didn't know what to do with it.

Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, "I cannot give you detention, since there are not many days of the school year left. But I think I know what caused your potion to explode…you didn't talk to one another, did you? You didn't ask if the other had done this already, you just did what you thought needed to be done. And you ended up with your robes singed. Oh, Mister Malfoy, that reminds me. Will you please put out your knee?"

Draco stared at Dumbledore blankly before realizing his knee was slowly burning, since he was stressed and his magic had decided to get a mind of its own.

"Oh shi-!" Draco yelped as he swatted at his knee.

"Headmaster," Hermione interrupted, "What is our punishment?"

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled, "I'm glad you asked that, Miss Granger. Draco, once school is over, you will be spending five weeks at Miss Granger's home. Once that time is up, Hermione will go to live with you for five weeks. And if that does not happen, you will have detention every night together next year when you come back. Is that clear?"

Hermione's lemon drop popped out of her mouth and onto the floor, while Draco was staring at the old man with bulging eyes.

"You're joking, right?" Draco asked finally.

"If I was joking, I would be laughing," Dumbledore smiled.

"But he hates me!" Hermione said, jumping up from her chair.

"But she _hates_ me!" Draco agreed.

"All the more reason to spend time together," Dumbledore said, "Now, may I suggest you go to the Hospital Wing and ask Madame Pomfrey to see if you have any injuries, hm?"

The two walked out of the room, side by side, and shut the door behind them.

Dumbledore smiled, looked around his office, then plopped his feet up on his desk and sighed heavily, "I need a nap."

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hospital Wing

Draco watched as Madame Pomfrey wrapped Hermione's hand in a layer of gauze as Hermione tried to get black smudges off of her face.

Once Madame Pomfrey left for a few minutes to check on some other students, Hermione looked over at him.

"If you try anything with my family, I will go _Avada Kedavra _on your butt," she hissed.

Draco rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't do anything to your family, Granger. In fact, I'm going to do the exact opposite."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I'm going to be a complete gentleman to prove you wrong in front of your parents, because I just _know_ you told your parents how much you hate me and how much I hate you."

"My parents aren't going to be the only ones there, Malfoy. My cousins, Daniel, Alicia, and Phillip, are staying the month you're coming. Alicia will probably break your arm or something if you try anything funny. Oh, this will be _good_."

"What?" Draco asked. His plan only worked on adults. And he didn't like the sound of Alicia.

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gryffindor Common Room

"WHAT?" Harry, Ginny, and Ron roared.

Hermione groaned as she plopped her face into the fur of her cat, Crookshanks, "I know!"

"But he, Mione, he…he's Draco Malfoy!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," Hermione sighed, "And it's in the same month my cousins are staying too!"

"What rotten luck," Ron said, "Being stuck with _Malfoy_. Yuck!"

"It could be worse," Harry offered.

"How?" Ginny, Hermione and Ron asked.

Harry blinked then said, "Sorry, there's no way it could be worse."

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Slytherin Boys Dormitory

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Blaise laughed as tears swam down his face.

Draco glared at him and growled, "It's…not…funny…."

"IT IS TOO! BWAHAHA!" Blaise laughed before sitting up on his bed, "But seriously though – what is your dad going to say?"

"That's just it! I don't know! He might kill her for all I know!" Draco said as he paced the room.

"What a pity that would be, eh?" Blaise asked, a small secretive smile on his face.

"Yeah," Draco agreed.

Blaise's secretive smile got bigger, "I mean, Hermione Granger isn't the ugly duckling she used to be in first year, eh?"

"Yeah," Draco agreed again, still pacing.

"Polite, nice eyes, not too bad to look at," Blaise said as he laid on his back and looked at Draco pace from upside down, "Okay, aside from the hair, but that can be dealt with."

Draco's voice sounded far away and dreamy, "Yeah…." Then he snapped back into focus and screamed, "No! Stop that!"

"Stop what?" Blaise asked, still smiling.

"Stop making me think about Granger!"

"Mate, I'm not _making_ you do anything!" Blaise smiled. Draco let this sink in, then looked as if Blaise had just killed his puppy.

"Oh my Merlin…WILL YOU STOP SMILING LIKE THAT?"

"BWAHAHAHA! NEEEEVEEEERRR!"

_Thwack._

"Owww. Drakey, why'd you hit me? Violence never helps anything!"

"Yes it does."

"Oh really? Enlighten me then."

"I feel better now."

_Chwop._

"You'll pay for that, Zabini!"

**

* * *

**

Hogwarts Express

Hermione sighed again as she watched out the window, "Summer with Malfoy, of all people."

"Come on, Hermione, it can't be that bad," Neville said, "He said he was going to be a gentleman, right?"

"He said he was going to be a gentleman, yes, but that may only be around my parents," Hermione sighed again.

"Hermione, stop acting like you can see a thestral," Luna scolded, "You're only stuck with him for seventy days. There are more days of the summer than that!"

Hermione blinked then nodded slowly, "You're right, Luna. Thank you."

Luna smiled and nodded, "You're welcome." She then resumed to her upside down issue of _The Quibbler_.

"Besides," Neville smiled, "I think Draco might even like you."

Ginny stared at Neville strangely before saying, "I see your point."

"What?" Hermione shrieked, "He doesn't like me! I don't like him! You're all nuts! And what do you mean by that, _Ginerva_?"

Ginny glared at Hermione and pointed her wand at her saying, "_Silencio._" Hermione soundlessly gasped at Ginny.

"First off, _never_ call me Ginerva. I don't know _what_ my mother was thinking when she named me. Secondly, I mean, he hasn't been that nasty to you for a while. Sure, he still doesn't use your first name and avoids treating you like you're an actual wizard, but overlooking that, he has been kinda nice to you. At least he doesn't call you 'Girl Weasel', the ferret."

Harry walked in then and sat down next to Ginny, "Hey. What are we talking about?"

"Draco likes Hermione," Luna said dully, "Oh look, green is out of style."

"What?" Harry blinked, "Since when did Ferret Boy like her?"

"I dunno," Neville shrugged, "I started seeing it a while ago. I can't explain it. It was just like –BAM! – he likes her."

"Mione, do you think so?" Harry asked, turning his attention onto Hermione. She was pointing furiously at an innocent looking Ginny while clutching her throat.

"Okay, Ginny, what do you think then?" Harry asked, thinking Hermione meant to ask Ginny. Hermione quickly got the book out of her bag and hit Harry over the head with it.

"Oh, right, Ginny did a _Silencio_ on her," Luna said.

Harry whirled around to look at Ginny again, "Ginny! Why would you do that to Hermione?"

Ginny pouted, "I didn't want her to interrupt me. Or yell at me."

Before Harry could tell her what a bad thing to do to a friend that was, the door slid open and the blonde Slytherin stepped in.

"What the bloody hell?" Ginny blinked.

"I have no idea what Granger's parents look like," Draco drawled, "And I have no idea where she lives."

Harry undid Ginny's _Silencio_ on Hermione. She glared at the girl and said, "I hate you."

Ginny giggled and hugged her, "Hate you too!" This, apparently, was her apology.

"Tuh," Draco said, rolling his eyes, "_Girls._"

Hermione calmly reached down to the bag next to her feet and got her wand out, pointed it at Draco and said, "_Silencio._"

Draco's mouth flew open and he mouthed, _"Granger!"_

Hermione smiled and turned to Ginny, "All is forgiven."

**

* * *

**

King's Cross Train Station

Crookshanks meowed loudly in his cage, not liking his confinement.

"Hold on, kitty, we just need to find Mum and Dad," Hermione told the red cat, sticking her fingers in the slot and wiggling them a bit, rubbing Crookshanks's fur. Instead he swatted at her fingers, thinking they were something to play with.

"Hermione!" a female voice said. Hermione whirled around and smiled before hugging her mother. Her mum had dull brown hair, and was dressed in jeans and a cardigan with the sleeves rolled up.

"Mum! I missed you so much!" Hermione said happily.

"I missed you too, love," her mum, Patricia, smiled, "Your headmaster wrote to your father and I, telling us _everything_."

Hermione's smile faltered, "Everything?"

Patricia was still smiling though, "Yes, everything. You blew up the school! You take after me so much!"

Patricia turned to Draco and held her hand out, "Hullo, my name is Doctor Patricia Granger. You're Draco Malfoy, I suspect?"

Draco smiled politely and shook her hand, "Yes, I am. Umm…what's a 'doctor'?"

"Oh, well, the title can mean three different things, someone who helps people who are injured or sick, someone who takes care of animals, and – in my case – someone who fixes other people's teeth."

"No offense, but, um, eww…." Patricia laughed and noticed Crookshanks, who was meowing loudly again.

"Ohhh, my poor Crooky! Has big, bad, mean Hermione put you in an ickle cage?" Patricia said as she put her fingers in the cage, only this time Crookshanks rubbed against her fingers and purred.

"Traitor cat," Hermione mumbled.

Draco arched an eyebrow at her, "It's a cat. And you're jealous about who it likes?"

Hermione pouted, and Draco couldn't help but notice that she looked adorable when she did this, "But it's _my_ cat," she said.

**

* * *

**

Mrs. Granger's Car

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Draco, who was sitting in the backseat with Crookshanks purring on his lap, and smiled, "My cat likes you, for some strange reason."

"Why wouldn't he?" Draco smirked.

"Beats the heck out of me," Hermione said as she turned back around, "How come Dad isn't here, Mum?"

Patricia started the car and backed out of the parking space, "Your aunt dropped off your cousins earlier than we expected, and somebody had to watch after them, since we couldn't all fit in here or in your dad's car."

Hermione perked up, "They're at the house?"

"Yup! Alicia _adores_ your room, Hermione, which is great seeing as…."

"Mum…."

"Well, we only have one guestroom in this house…."

"Mum, you didn't! She's probably throwing out all of my favorite clothes by now!" Hermione groaned.

Patricia rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry Draco, but you have to stay with Daniel and Phillip. They're good boys, but…yeah…."

Hermione turned back around to look at him, "I will say this once, and only because I know what you're about to get into: I feel sorry for you Malfoy."

"Uhhh…" Draco answered, "Have they ever been to prison?"

Hermione got a look on her face and thought for a moment, "I think Daniel was close to going to juvenile prison once, but he got out of it…."

Patricia lightly whacked Hermione on the arm, "He did not! Draco, they're very nice, they've never did anything outside of the law, they just like to tease and pull pranks on people."

"Better than my cousins," Draco said as he leaned back in his seat and relaxed.

"Oh?" Hermione asked dully.

"Yeah. They're all adults. That's really boring."

"Hey, we have kids, we have bills, we get stressed okay? It's not our fault," Patricia said. Hermione started giggling and Draco smiled in the backseat before Crookshanks leaped himself into Hermione's lap.

"There's my kitty!" Hermione smiled as she stroked Crookshanks, who yawned as if to say 'Yeah, yeah, shut up now, nap time.'

**

* * *

**

Granger Household

Hermione got out of the car and stretched, looking at her three-story house in the middle of a big green lawn, with a good sized stream in the back, near the woods. Her family didn't own all of it, but the neighbors (who were a few miles away) were well off and nice, so there weren't any territory issues.

Patricia smiled as she held a purring ginger cat, "Why don't you wake Draco up?"

Hermione nodded and slammed her car door, thinking that would work. No effect. She then leaned down to the window, knocked three times on the glass and said "Malfoy," then repeated until the blonde finally woke up and opened the door.

"What?" he asked irritably.

"HERMIONE!" two voices screamed before a twelve year old boy wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and hugged her. He had auburn hair and glasses and was dressed in a red shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it and jeans, along with converse shoes that Draco thought looked odd.

"Phillip!" Hermione said happily, returning the hug, "How have you been? Did you get good grades? You aren't repeating are you?"

Phillip laughed, "No, Mione, I just barely passed. Yay!" He then opened up the passenger door and climbed in, "Now, where is that thing?"

Draco opened his mouth to ask him what he was looking for, when Hermione shot him a look that said "Don't ask, it's not worth it."

"BWAHA!" Phillip said before leaping out of the car and running off, holding up a piece of paper.

Hermione gasped and tore off after him, "GIVE THAT BACK, YOU LITTLE BUGGER!"

"HERMIONE JEAN, BE NICE TO YOUR COUSIN!" Patricia shouted.

Draco Malfoy watched as Hermione chased a twelve year old as a taller guy followed her. Right after she got the paper from Phillip, the guy tackled her to the ground and crouched over her.

Draco walked up to them and noticed that the guy looked around sixteen or seventeen and he had a string of spit leading down his mouth, daring to splash Hermione in the face with it.

"May fi fuffest foo clofe yaw moff," the guy said. He had black hair and was dressed in a black t-shirt with a grey long sleeved shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and jeans, along with black converse.

Draco kneeled down to look at the guys face, "Hi. Draco Malfoy."

"DANIEL GRANGER, GET OFF OF HERMIONE!" a female voice screamed.

The string of spit was slurped up to the guy's mouth, "My radar's off. I thought she was farther away." He got off of a laughing Hermione and towered a few inches above Draco, "Hi. As my loud sister said before, I'm Daniel Granger."

"You do that every time we see each other!" the girl, Alicia, said, "Even at weddings!" She turned to Draco and her mouth flew open, "Holy crap on a cracker, he's hot."

Hermione sat up straight and gasped, "Alicia!" while Daniel staggered back and cried "EW!" Draco just stood there; he was used to it.

Alicia then began to jump up and down, although she was looking at Hermione, "Oh my gosh, Mione, no wonder you never let me set you up with Dean!"

"Alicia, this isn't what you think," Hermione said as she got up. But she was already saying it.

"You have a boyfriend!"

"OH, EW, NO FREAKING WAY!" Hermione and Draco cried.

Alicia pouted, "Aw man. I thought you finally got a boyfriend."

Phillip walked by, "It's not like the guys haven't tried, Lice. There's been, like, twenty of them every year that want to go out with Mione. This year, I'm going to keep track."

"You will do no such thing!" Hermione shouted.

"I will do yes such thing!" Phillip shouted back.

"That doesn't make sense!" Hermione sighed.

"Let him go. He's nuts," Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, Mione, I start working my magic tomorrow," Alicia smiled wickedly, "And I refuse to quit this time! I won't even try to kill Daniel!"

Hermione's eyes widened, "No way."

"I actually want to see you with a guy sometime, Hermione," Daniel said. He blinked then looked over at Draco, "Er, I mean, _with_ a guy, you know? I mean, okay, not standing next to a guy but, like, dating him."

Alicia rolled her eyes and looked at Draco, "He's the smartest guy in our school and he's a piano protégé, but he is s_till_ a goofball!"

"Protégé?" Draco's eyebrows went up.

Daniel glared at Alicia, who was leading Hermione up to the house and talking, using her hands a lot.

"Yeah, when I was seven I did some huge concert. Froze like an icecube. Never went back," Daniel shrugged, "People say that, like, my brain is really big or something, cause I ace all my grades. I think it's genetic, cause Mione's got it too. Not the protégé thing, well, she could if she wanted to."

"Your sister's right."

"'Bout what?"

"You are a goofball."

**

* * *

**

…Don't ask me what's going on in my brain. I don't even know.

The Big Bang Theory is my favorite TV show on CBS. "Holy crap on a cracker", the *knock**knock**knock* (insert name here) thing, and the Flash t-shirt are all little sneaklets of it. :)

I will say this one time, and one time only: Daniel, Alicia, and Phillip are my characters, and I own the plot. Harry Potter belongs to J., while The Big Bang Theory belongs to CBS.

Next chapter, we get to see Hermione's makeover and Draco's life at the Granger house.


	2. Crawdads, Noodles, and Flicks

**Hello, all! Now, I just watched the season premiere of the Big Bang Theory, right after I typed and submitted that chapter last night. It had a Harry Potter reference in it! My mom was like 'what's a muggle?' but I was just shocked that it had happened! Course, I didn't tell Mom about this….**

**Draco's first official day at the Granger house. :)**

**

* * *

**

Granger House

Draco had woken up before anybody, which was new to him, because he was usually the last one to be woken up. He had gotten dressed and walked quietly down the stairs, before he stopped outside the bathroom when he heard voices.

"Why did we have to get up so early?" Hermione whined, rubbing her eyes.

"Because you have that big, bushy hair of yours. I need to find your skull, and that should take a few hours," Alicia answered.

"Alicia, I don't want a makeover!" Hermione said. Alicia didn't answer though and Draco heard Hermione yelp "OW!"

Alicia stopped torturing her cousin for a second and tilted her head, giving a Luna Lovegood expression, then smiling, "So, Mione, how's your boyfriend?" She leaned down to her cousin's ear and whispered, "Play along, Draco's outside listening to us."

Hermione nodded and smiled, "Oh, he's fine."

_Bloody hell!_ Draco thought _she's dating the Weasel!_

"Have you… 'taken the plunge' yet?" Alicia asked, leaving out specifics.

"Been there and back," Hermione answered dully, "Ow, not so hard, will you?"

Draco accidentally bumped into the wall in his shock and Alicia giggled while Hermione smiled.

"Prying ears be not worse than prying eyes," Alicia told him, "Said Aunt Helena to Hermione and I."

Draco pushed the door open and saw Hermione sitting on a chair in front of a vanity with Alicia standing behind her, trying to force a brush down Hermione's hair.

"What in the name of m-" he started before Hermione cut him off.

"She's determined to give me a makeover," Hermione said sadly as Alicia started to pull harder on her hair.

"HOLY CRAP! WHAT IS YOUR HAIR MADE OF?" Alicia screamed finally.

"Was that a rhetorical question, or do you really want to know?" Hermione asked her.

"It was a rhetorical question, smart a-a-ah…," Alicia coughed, "I need to stop swearing. Sorry Mione. Uhm…sorry Malfoy."

Draco arched an eyebrow at her, "And why are you apologizing to me?"

Alicia shrugged as she went back to Hermione's hair and tugged on it calmly, to which it went through smoothly, "Well, Hermione brought you for some strange reason, and the only things that have been out of my mouth so far…" she noticed how easy it was to comb Hermione's hair when she was calm. Then her face broke into a smile, "HA! I KNOW THE SECRET! YOU HAVE TO BE CALM TO BRUSH IT!"

Hermione blinked, "Seriously?"

"Yes!" Alicia said happily before putting on a calm expression and brushing it some more.

"You have mood hair, Granger," Draco smiled.

"I could come up with an excellent retort, but then I would have a lot of explaining to do to Alicia," Hermione said, "So I'll save it for later."

"You, out," Alicia said to Draco, "Hermione's transformation is to be secret. Aunt Patricia and Uncle Tom don't know yet."

"You plan to 'transform' Granger in one day? Good luck with that," Draco said.

"No," Alicia rolled her eyes, "This is going to be a week-long experiment."

"Week-long?" Hermione shouted.

"Duh," Alicia rolled her eyes again, "I'm not magic, Hermione. I can't just say 'Avada Kedavra' and make you beautiful."

Hermione looked over to Draco with wide eyes, who shared the look.

"You don't say that," Draco told Alicia.

"I can say whatever I want, Ferret," Alicia retorted, "Bippity-boppity-boo! Chang chang chang changity chang she bop! Wap bop a loo bop, a waa bam boo!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Did you watch _Grease_ recently?"

"No, but at my stinkin' school we sing that song in choir."

"How…the Ferret…?" Draco asked, pointing at Alicia, then at Hermione.

"I may or may not have told her my pet name for you," Hermione grinned, "but not the explanation. She doesn't care though; she just thinks it's funny."

"Funny how you used the word 'pet'…" Alicia trailed off.

**

* * *

**

Granger House, Dining Room/Kitchen

"Okay, but what about Joker versus Alicia?" Daniel asked his little brother, who was sitting on the other side of Draco on the island, stuffing his face.

"Ali. Dude, don't you get it? Our sister is scary. She could go as herself for Halloween and give people heart attacks," Phillip answered.

Draco rolled his eyes. They had no idea what scary was. They had never seen Voldemort. They had never seen what was really going on. He couldn't tell whether or not to feel sorry for them or envy them.

Alicia came bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen, "I did it!"

"Err…did what?" Phillip asked.

"HERRRR-MIIIIII-NEEEEE!" Alicia called out.

"AAAAAAA-LEEEE-SEEEE-AAAAA!" Hermione called back.

"COME OUT AND SHOW THE GUYS YOUR HAAAA-IRRRRR!"

"NOOO-OOO!"

Alicia frowned then went back up the stairs, mumbling to herself. Hermione, however, came up from the basement steps with cobwebs in her not-so-bushy hair. Alicia hadn't been able to smooth it out completely, but it didn't look like a rats' nest either. It was curly now.

"HA! Wait, what about Alicia versus _Hermione_?" Daniel asked. Phillip stopped chewing and thought about this for a minute, then shrugged and continued eating.

"HA! I did it!" Daniel cheered.

Alicia came running down the stairs and past Hermione, screaming, "SHE'S GONE, SHE'S GONE, SHE RAN AWAY!"

"Alice, calm down," Daniel told her with a serious expression, "Where did you last see her?"

"She was up in her room and then she was gone!" Alicia said, pointing up.

"Did she say anything before you came downstairs?" Phillip asked.

"She just said 'I'm going to kill myself if you show the guys' OH MY GOSH, I MADE HER KILL HERSELF!" Alicia cried, "THAT'S, LIKE, MURDER!"

Daniel jumped up from his chair, the serious expression still on his face, "Alicia, listen, you need to leave. _Now._ Before Aunt Patricia and Uncle Tom find out and call the cops. Phillip and I might be able to hold them off for a while, but I can't make any promises."

Alicia nodded then noticed Draco smiling into his breakfast, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY! MY COUSIN IS _DEAD_ AND YOU'RE _LAUGHING_!"

"Boo," Hermione smiled. Alicia screamed and whirled around. She blinked a few times before hugging her.

"_That_ is what was so funny," Draco smiled.

"Daniel…you're dead. You are so freaking dead!" Alicia told him.

"It was worth it," Daniel smiled.

"You won't die if you do me a favor," Alicia smiled wickedly.

He arched an eyebrow, "What's the favor?" Alicia walked over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Hey, Mione, your hair looks good," Phillip smiled, "It would've looked funny if it was straight."

Hermione smiled at him, "Thanks Phillip."

"You're welco-arrghh. Crookshanks! I'm eating here!" Phillip screamed, looking down at the cat in his lap.

Crookshanks blinked up at him then jumped over and landed on Draco and headbutted him in the stomach.

"Oof! Stupid cat!" Draco told him. Crookshanks purred as Hermione smiled.

"Good kitty. Do that in a couple of minutes, kay?" Hermione said as she walked over to a cupboard and opened it up. Inside were cups. She walked over to the next one. Plates and bowls. She grabbed a bowl and set it on the counter. She kept looking around in cupboards until she found the cereal.

"Aunt Patricia couldn't find anything either," Daniel told her, "I liked your old house better. Mainly because your next door neighbor was hot."

Alicia rolled her eyes, "She was nineteen, and you're sixteen."

"So? She was hot!"

Alicia and Hermione shared a look before collectively saying, "Men."

"Hey Mione, can we go swimming in that river today?" Phillip asked, pointing out the window over the sink, "I wanna find some crawdads."

"Crawdads?" Daniel repeated, "What the heck are crawdads?"

"They're like shrimp, but in fresh water. You know them as crayfish," Hermione answered, "A girl in my school calls them crawdads."

"Is it that girl who…umm...wears blue?" Draco asked, trying not to give anything about Hogwarts away.

"Yeah. I forget her name…" Hermione trailed off.

"So can we go or what?" Phillip asked.

Hermione gave a shrug, "I guess."

"WOO!"

**

* * *

**

Stream Behind the Granger House

Phillip jumped in the water, where it was up to his waist. He then took a deep breath and dived in where it got deeper. Daniel was still on the shore, freaking out about the crawdads. Alicia refused to go in the water, even though she had changed into shorts and flip-flops.

Hermione was wading out into the middle with Phillip while Draco was still on land and looking around. He found a rope hanging from a tree limb and tugged on it a few times. He ran back with the rope, then ran forward and hung on. Once he was over the water, he let go and did a cannonball.

"GAH!" Hermione screeched as Draco's wave washed over her. Phillip's head popped out of the water and screeched, "COOL!" then ran up on the shore to try.

Draco's head popped out of the water, giving Hermione a grin, "That was fun."

She glared at him before splashing him. He frowned and splashed back. She splashed him again. Soon they were in a splashing war.

"They like each other," Daniel told his sister, "They just don't know it yet."

Alicia looked up at him, "What are you talking about, you nimrod?"

"The way they act around each other…it's like a love hate thing. I can't explain it…yet…."

"Ooookay…are you going swimming or what?"

Daniel nodded, then grabbed his sister and slung her over his shoulder. He walked down the shore and into the deep part, where he dropped her.

"DANIEL! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAL OR NOT!" Alicia screeched once her head popped out of the water. But Daniel was already swimming away, towards Draco and Hermione's Splash War. He brought his arm down and splashed both of them with a big wave so that they stopped momentarily.

He grinned at them, "I win! You lose!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "It frightens me that you're allowed to drive, you act so much like Phillip."

"CHA-WA-PAA!" Phillip shouted as he sailed over them and into the water.

"Point proven," Daniel smiled.

An hour later, Alicia decided it was time to get out and go back to the house. And amazingly, Daniel agreed with her.

"WHAT?" Hermione screamed, whipping her wet hair around and smacking Draco with it, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH DANIEL?"

Phillip gaped at him before tackling him, "TRAITOR!"

"C'mon, Hermione. We need to go somewhere. Daniel's going to drive us," Alicia said. Draco sunk lower in the water at this, seeing as he had no desire to get in a car with Daniel.

"I'll just stay here and keep the water moving," Draco told her.

"Draco, you too. I need your opinion," Alicia told him as Hermione groaned and got out of the water to get her towel.

"What?" Draco blinked, "Why do you need my opinion?"

Alicia gave her wicked grin, "You'll see."

**

* * *

**

Grand Hope Mall Parking Lot

"No, no, no, no, no!" Hermione chanted, "NOOOO!"

Alicia grinned at her from the front seat, "Chill out, cuz, it's just some clothes, make up…that kind of stuff. Oh, and I'm not getting you anything for your birthday or Christmas. This will wipe out my 'Presents For Mione' account for a year."

Phillip gaped at his older sister, "You evil genius. You tricked us!"

Daniel gave a one shouldered shrug, "Eh, not really. She just didn't give you guys the details or the name of the location we were headed."

"Why did you need me to come?" Draco asked.

"Daniel and Phillip will lie and say she looks good in any outfit I stick her in. You, however, won't lie," Alicia answered.

"So…Philly and I don't have to stick in girly shops?" Daniel asked as he parked.

"No."

"Alright, dude!" Daniel and Phillip cheered.

**

* * *

**

Grand Hope Mall, Rue 21

"You're the worst cousin _ever_. My second day home and you take me _shopping_?" Hermione told Alicia as she picked through shopping racks.

"Amazingly, I agree with Granger. That's pretty low," Draco said dully as he played with his shoelace.

"Shut up, both of you. Hermione, go in that dressing room and wait," Alicia ordered.

"No," Hermione said defiantly, "I will not."

"Go before I show Draco the pictures of you in that biki-"

"Fine!" Hermione said before going in a dressing room.

Alicia rolled her eyes, "My cousin, I swear."

"Weird, those were my exact same thoughts," Hermione said from inside the cubicle thing.

"Oh hush. You'll have fun."

"I wish you had warned me. I would've brought a book," Hermione sighed.

"If I had warned you," Alicia held up a shirt before putting it back, "You wouldn't have gone in the car willingly."

"True."

"So, how long have you known Mione?" Alicia asked.

"Who?" Draco asked.

"Hermione!" Alicia sighed, "How long have you known her?"

"Oh…five years," Draco shrugged, "We don't exactly get along though."

"I agree with you on that, but Daniel is off on some weird assumption. 'They have frisson.' Bah. What the heck is frisson anyway?"

"I have no idea," Draco said before hitting the back of his head against the wall and sighing, "How long will this take?"

"Oh, around a few hours," Alicia said dully, as if it were no big deal. She got two groans as a response.

**

* * *

**

Grand Hope Mall, DQ

Daniel flicked a piece of paper at Phillip, who flicked it back. Phillip sighed as he looked around before brightening up and saying, "There's Mione and Alicia! Oh, and David."

"Draco," Daniel corrected.

"Whatever. I have a short attention span."

"Hi!" Alicia said happily. Hermione sighed as she slid in next to Daniel and Draco slid in next to Phillip before Alicia sat down next to Hermione.

"Did you have fun?" Daniel asked, smiling.

"Define 'fun'," Draco sighed, "That was so…"

"Torturous," Hermione finished. Daniel and Alicia shared a look; Daniel's smug and Alicia's annoyed.

"Draco, you can hang out with Daniel and Phillip for the next part," Alicia told him.

"YES!" Draco hissed.

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"You order fortune cookie?" Tom Granger asked as he walked into the living room, carrying a few bags.

"FOOD!" Phillip said happily as Hermione walked over to help her dad with the bags.

"Okay, Alicia got the wantons, Daniel got the eggrolls, Phillip got that chicken stuff," Tom said, "Mione, I got you and Draco chicken low mien. Uhh…hey, where's your mum?"

"She said she had to work late tonight," Hermione said as she started passing food around the coffee table.

"Bah, again?" Tom said, "I got her the usual!"

Hermione shrugged, "Sorry, Dad."

"Uncle Tom, can we order a movie?" Alicia asked. Tom nodded and tossed the remote to Alicia, who smiled and turned her attention to the TV screen.

Everyone except Draco began to eat as Alicia flipped through different movie titles.

"Why aren't you eating?" Hermione asked him as she curled up on a couch cushion and scooped some noodles to her mouth with chopsticks.

"I don't know what it is," Draco said, "My mother taught me not to eat something when I don't know what's in it."

"Noodles, chicken, veggies, eat up," Hermione told him.

"No, I will not, because - GAH!" Draco started before Hermione shoved a forkful of his chicken low mien into his mouth. He chewed for a few moments before swallowing, "Not bad."

"Mione, wanna watch _Letters to Juliet_?" Alicia asked.

Hermione gasped and beamed, "Yes!"

"NO!" Daniel and Phillip screamed. Tom turned and walked out of the doorway with his food to his office. Daniel had got up and tried to run out the door but Alicia tackled him and sat on top of him.

"Phillip, you stay too," Alicia ordered in a dangerously low voice. Phillip squeaked then settled on a couch cushion.

"Hey, Mione, can you give me my food?" Daniel asked, seeing as he didn't think his sister was going to let him up. Hermione nodded and gave him his eggrolls.

So Draco sat there and watched what he later learned was a 'chick flick' – a movie that only females watched since it involved major gushy lovey moments.

_Letters to Juliet_ was a 'chick flick' about a girl named Sophie finding a letter that had been written to Juliet – William Shakespeare's Juliet – but had been hidden. Sophie had written back, and within five days a woman named Claire and her grandson and appeared in Italy to find Claire's Lorenzo. During that time the grandson had thought that the notion of finding lost loves preposterous, and yet he and Sophie had unconsciously fallen in love with each other, even though Sophie was engaged to a guy that loved his restaurant more that her.

But he really wasn't paying attention to the movie. He was paying attention to his food, and when that was gone he watching Hermione's reactions since Phillip was too busy gagging and making fun of the movie to talk.

She was really getting into the movie. She was watching it with the same attention she gave to teachers back at Hogwarts. It was kind of funny, Draco thought. He had never thought that _Granger_ would be into girly stuff.

"_Patricia is my cousin!"_ Charlie, the grandson, said on the movie.

"_How is that legal?"_ Sophie asked him.

"Aunty Pat?" Alicia screamed, horrified. Hermione broke into a fit of giggles before returning her attention back to the movie.

"He fell?" Draco said as he watched Charlie fall off the vine that was near the balcony, "Who the heck _falls_?"

"Don't make me hit you again," Hermione warned him. He knew what she was referring to: _third year_. Just thinking about it made his nose hurt.

"_Can you move?"_ Sophie asked Charlie as she knelt down to the ground.

"_Only my lips_," Charlie answered.

"NO!" Daniel screamed as he tried to wriggle out from under Alicia, "I refuse to witness this sordid swell of illusory romance!"

"Oh shut up," Alicia said once Charlie and Sophie kissed, "Nobody understands your words anyway."

"They are not _my_ words," Daniel huffed, "They are in the dictionary."

"I'm home!" Patricia announced as she walked into the living room, "Ohh, you watched _Letters to Juliet_? I wanted to see that!"

Alicia peeked over the coffee table and grinned at Hermione, who grinned back, "Rewind!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Daniel and Phillip cried.

"Oh hush," Patricia told them, "Daniel, you're older than Draco and he's acting much more mature than you."

"Malfoy? Mature? Quick, get down in the basement, the End is near!" Hermione said.

"Aunt Patricia, can you tell 'Licia to get off of me?" Daniel asked.

"Alicia, get off of your brother," Patricia said. Alicia huffed and got off of him.

**

* * *

**

Letters to Juliet is a really good movie, to those who like romance but haven't seen it yet. Oh, and I'm sorry for the spoilers, but you have to know that there will be a kiss in a chick-flick.

**I ate chicken low mien last night. It was okay. But now I kinda want to go heat up the rest of it…hmm…I might just do that. See ya next chapter!**

***Oh, and I'm from the south so I call crawdads…crawdads. But everyone who lives near me now calls them crayfish. Weeeiiirdd. **


	3. The Past Should Stay There

**I love all of the favorites, alerts, and reviews I'm getting! It makes me check my e-mail! Lol. Okay, now, enough of my yammering. BACK TO THE DRAMIONE! **

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Bookstore."

"Mall."

"Bookstore."

"Mall."

"Bookstore, Alicia, bookstore!"

"The mall, Hermione, the mall!"

"I agree with Granger, no more shopping," Draco said as he frowned into the book he was reading, "Besides, this book you gave me is…addicting. I need the other one."

"You agree with me?" Hermione blinked, "Wait a second, when did I give you a book?"

"You gave it to me a week ago, the third day we were here," Draco answered, "Now hush."

"I did? I don't remember that," Hermione blinked.

"Oh, Mione, you don't know?" Alicia asked.

"Know what?"

"You sleep walk!"

"Yeah," Draco said, "I was in the living room doing the homework they gave us over the summer and you walked over to me, handed me a book, and said 'Read this.' So I am. And I need the other one or I'll go insane."

"What book did I give you?" Hermione blinked, seeing as it was a hardcover book without a title on the front.

"Dunno, doesn't say. But it's addicting," Draco said, slumping into the sofa cushion, "So can I finish it, please?"

"That's something I thought I'd never hear; Draco Malfoy wanting to finish a book and saying please," Hermione smiled.

As a response, Draco smirked as his eyes scanned the pages.

"I'm gonna ask Daniel and Phillip. Surely _they_ don't want to be stuck in a bookstore," Alicia huffed, walking off.

"I'm going to go write a letter to Harry and Ron," Hermione told him.

"I need to write to mother…once I finish this blasted book," Draco said, his eyebrows scrunching together.

He kept reading the book for the longest time, until something started pecking his hand.

"Ow!" Draco said as he snapped his attention away from the book to the owl that was perched on his knee. It gave a hoot before flapping out the open window.

He looked down at the papers the owl had left.

_Dear Draco, _

_I can't __**believe**__ you blew up a potion! Now, honestly, I thought it was pretty funny, but your father was…eerily calm. I want you to look out for Hermione when she comes to live with us. I'm frightened for her. _

_Your Aunt Silvia and new cousin Catrina will come the second week you come home and will stay for that week. Well, Baby Catrina will. Silvia has something to do in town. But I'm sure Hermione will stop you from hurting Catrina. You're so clumsy when it comes to younger children, Draco!_

_So…what do I tell my hairdresser? Girlfriend or no? _

_With love,_

_Narcissa_

Draco sighed as he ran a hand through his platinum blonde hair before noticing something in the letter. His mother had used Granger's first name. He didn't even use her first name! And she had never even _met_ her!

He opened the next letter and sighed again once he recognized the handwriting.

_Draco,_

_How are things at Hermione's house? Did she kill you yet? Have you killed her yet? Or are you too busy snogging each other? Or are you avoiding each other completely? So many scenarios…._

_I heard that Pansy Parkinson started a nasty rumor about Hermione. Something about her messing the potion up on purpose to try to kill you. I think that's a tad bit extreme, don't you? _

_I don't know about you, but I like Hermione __**MUCH**__ better than Pansy. She's not so…ehhh…what would the word be? Flirty? Ditsy? Ah well, Hermione's nicer anyway. _

_Have fun, but not too much fun ;) _

_Blaise Zabini_

"Blaise," Draco growled.

**

* * *

**

Granger House, Hermione's Bedroom

_Dear Harry,_

_No, Malfoy hasn't tried to kill me yet. But I think my cousin, Alicia, has it out for me. She's trying to give me a makeover. Oh, I learned something about my hair – You have to be __**calm**__ to brush it! How strange is that? _

_Have you finished the homework they've given us yet? My cousins kept bugging me, so it took longer to accomplish. You should come visit me some time! We moved the summer before last year, and this house is bigger with much more lawn. We have a stream out back! Okay, not a stream…you have to slid down the bank a bit, and then you wade a while before you get to the deep end. I think you can fit a canoe in it easily. I might have to try that. _

_Did you know I sleep walk? I never knew that. Alicia and Malfoy told me that earlier. Do I?_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Hermione sighed as she leaned back in her light blue hammock that was her bed, with a sheer white fabric circling around it from the ceiling. The walls were light blue and the closet doors were white and folded. She had strings of fall leaves cascading across her ceiling, over to her white vanity where she had pictures of her, her cousins, Harry, Ron, other Hogwarts students and students from her Muggle school on the edges of the mirror, and on the table were make-up and perfumes Alicia had insisted on her getting, along with brushes. In the drawers was the jewelry she got from her family members. From her window, she could see the trees that lead the way to the stream. She had a dresser in her closet where she put her pajamas and stuff like that, along with her Hogwarts clothes that she put on the bottom drawer.

"Wow. You have leaves on your ceiling," Draco said as he stood in the doorway, looking up.

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice before stepping out of her hammock, "What are you doing in here?"

"Well, if you want to get technical, I'm not _in_ here," Draco said, looking down at his feet, which didn't touch her white carpet.

"Okay…why?" Hermione asked.

"Alicia told me to tell you that we're getting ready to leave," Draco drawled, "She didn't say where we're going though."

"MIONE!" Alicia screamed from downstairs, "GET DOWN HERE _NOW_!"

Hermione and Draco gave each other questioning looks before heading downstairs.

"Yes?" Hermione asked warily, eyeing her cousin.

"You have a freaking _owl_! It scared the crap out of me!" Alicia cried.

Hermione arched an eyebrow, "That's why you yelled at me to come downstairs? Because of the owl?"

"Well, no, because Crookshanks was stalking it. He ran off when I started yelling though," Alicia shrugged.

"Okay…."

"We need to go," Alicia told her.

"Where?"

"Dunno. Daniel won't tell me."

"Better get your helmets then," Draco said, rolling his eyes. Hermione giggled.

**

* * *

**

Patricia Granger's Car

"Why am I stuck next to Granger and the munchkin?" Draco complained, seeing as Daniel had stuck Draco in between Phillip and Hermione in the back seat.

"Dude, I'm only three years younger than you," Phillip frowned, "Who knows? I might end up taller than you."

"You'll never find out; this is the first and last time you get to see him," Hermione said as she watched out the window.

Phillip looked over to his brother, "Seriously? Why?"

"We aren't exactly friends," Draco said.

"Why?"

"We hate each other," Draco and Hermione said before looking at each other strangely.

"Whoa. Daniel, you got it all wrong then!"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, suddenly interested.

"He keeps saying that you and Draco like each other, but don't know it yet. He said you guys have this thing called 'frisson', which means…."

Daniel sighed, "'_A brief intense reaction, usually a feeling of excitement, recognition, or terror, accompanied by a physical shudder or thrill.'_ It was used in Meg Cabot's book '_All American Girl',_ where the main character, Sam, saves the life of the president of the United States and unknowingly has frisson with his son, David."

"There is no frisson!" Hermione said as she kicked the back of his seat, "There has never been any frisson and there never will be!"

"Told you," Alicia mumbled to her brother.

"Where are we going?" Phillip asked.

"You'll see," Daniel smiled wickedly.

"Where are we going?" Phillip asked again.

Alicia clapped three times before singing "Where are we going?"

Daniel groaned, "Please, stop, no Dora por favor!"

Draco arched an eyebrow at Hermione who whispered, "A Muggle television show for little kids. Dora speaks Spanish."

"Spanish? Television show?" Draco asked.

Hermione sighed, "Some other time."

"Who wants to hear movie quotes?" Alicia asked after a while.

"Yes! Batman! No, wait, Spiderman! No, no, _The Big Bang Theory!_" Phillip said as he bounced in his seat.

Alicia laughed, "The Big Bang Theory is a TV show, Squirt, but I can manage."

She coughed and cleared her throat as she closed her eyes before opening them again and saying, "Hello, Oompa Loompas of science!"

"Awesome, now do another movie," Phillip demanded.

Alicia pursed her lips before clearing her throat again and closing her eyes. She opened them again and gave her wicked smile, "Why so serious?"

"Aha! Batman!" Phillip smiled.

Alicia huffed before closing her eyes and clearing her throat again. She opened her eyes, "I can't believe I'm doing this…Please…Please…Please…" She blinked and made a face at Draco's knee, as if something were there, "Oh, very funny. So what now? I reckon you want a kiss?" She made a deeper voice, like a man's, and said, "Kissing would be nice, yes?"

"The Princess and the Frog. Tiana and Prince Naveen," Hermione sighed.

Alicia cleared her throat and glared at her cousin before coughing, "Stick in the mud!"

"Again, Naveen," Hermione said.

"You're no fun, Granger," Draco told her.

"Ron's been telling me that since I was eleven," Hermione gave a dry, humorless laugh, "I'm used to it."

Alicia looked worriedly over to Daniel, "Uhh…Daniel, maybe we could go home…?"

Daniel sighed, "Remember in that Disney movie you dragged me to how they went to the blind lady for stuff they wanted, not what they needed? Hermione, love, I know you don't want to hear it but you need to – you aren't in love with Ronald Weasley."

"I never said I was –" Hermione started.

"You never voiced it, but I can tell from the way you talk about him. But Mione, you don't love him like that! You love someone else!"

"Oh really?" Hermione asked, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Who? Tell me, Daniel, who do I love?"

Daniel sighed and let it go, as did Hermione and an uncomfortable silence engulfed them.

"I really wish you people would quit ignoring me," Draco said after a while.

"Do wha?" Alicia asked, "We don't ignore you!"

"Yes, you do. But it's fine. You Grangers are entertaining," Draco shrugged.

"…He's right," Phillip said, "We are. Remember that one time when Uncle Keith threw a pie at Aunt Patricia? That was funny. And that one time when we went swimming together at the beach and we played Tokyo Monster to the abandoned sand castles? That was pretty funny too."

"Not whenever one little girl came back and started crying," Hermione winced, "That was pretty bad."

**

* * *

**

Horendo's Music Shop

"Why here?" Hermione asked as she looked at the instruments lining the walls.

Daniel shrugged and walked over to an electric guitar, "Dunno. Thought it would be fun. Is the guitar anything like the piano?"

Draco looked at him funny before replying, "I don't think so."

"Uhh, no," Hermione said, "It's not. Daniel, why don't you just go back to the piano?"

Daniel looked at her and said dully, "Why don't you go back to the violin? You were great Mione, and then you just stopped."

"Because you," Alicia sighed and poked Daniel in the arm, "had stopped playing completely. You were her musical role model, Daniel. And you suddenly announced that you would never touch another key as long as you lived."

"Whoa, what?" Phillip asked.

"You were too young to remember," Hermione told him, "You were three."

"If you were good at it, why did you stop?" Draco asked.

"Who are you talking to, me or Mione?" Daniel asked.

"Both."

"I stopped because everyone was forcing me to grow up when I was seven," Daniel said as his jaw clenched, "You have _no_ idea what that's like."

"No?" Draco said, arching an eyebrow, "And what about you, Granger?"

Hermione's eyes had a glassy look to them as she stared at Draco, "She died."

Everyone froze and stared at her before Alicia gasped, "Oh my god. Margaret…Mione…you never told us that."

Hermione gave as shrug as she picked up a violin and twirled it around a few times, "It…kinda hurt…."

Daniel looked across the room at the grand piano before shuddering and walking over to Alicia. He leaned down to whisper to her, "I need to talk to Draco, Alicia. Take her to look at CDs, Phillip too."

Alicia nodded and ushered the two out of the room.

Daniel sighed as he leaned against the wall, "Margaret was a little girl Hermione knew. They stuck together. Wherever Margaret went, Hermione went. One day…nobody knows what happened. Margaret was just…lying in her bedroom floor. There weren't any marks on her. She was just dead. Hermione was broken after that. I thought we had fixed her and she was okay but now…" Daniel sighed before smiling, "You fixed her. You gave her that little spark she always had. She used to be really quiet, ya know? Too polite. It bugged me. But once she started going to that school…I dunno. Thanks, mate."

Draco stared at him before shaking his head, "I didn't do that. Potter and Weasel did that."

Daniel rolled her eyes, "I've met Harry. He doesn't ignite that kind of spark from her. But you do. Draco, whether you know it or not, you fixed my cousin. I'm grateful for that." And without another word, he exited the room and into the one the other Grangers were in.

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Eep!" Hermione squeaked as thunder rattled her house. Alicia took a few deep breaths as she tried to get Hermione to go up the stairs to look for flashlights.

"Granger, I know you don't want to hear this," Draco said as he followed Alicia and Hermione up the stairs, "But the lights are going to go out soon, and we _need_ the horde of flashlights I know you keep in your room."

"Mione, he's right," Alicia said softly, "Please, it's just a little further."

Draco suddenly got an idea. He squeezed past Alicia and walked past Hermione, who was clutching the railing, and whispered to her, "I should've expected that a Mudblood would be afraid of a simple thunderstorm." He continued to walk up the stairs, and once at the top he saw Hermione walking up after him. He turned and ran down the hall with Hermione at his heels.

He stopped at the end of the hall and caught Hermione before she could hit him. He turned her around and pushed her against the wall and pinned her arms at her sides.

Hermione blinked as something dawned on her, "You tricked me!"

Draco gave his infamous smirk, "Yes, I did." Whenever he saw that she had calmed down, he let go of her arms and walked to her room. Once he stopped she hit him on the arm with as much force as she could.

"Yeeeeooooowww! What the hell was that for?" Draco asked as he rubbed his arm.

"For tricking me and calling me the M-word," Hermione glared as she walked over to her vanity and got out five flashlights.

She handed one to Draco and walked out the door with him and down the stairs. Before they had reached the landing, the lights went out.

"Oh god," Hermione moaned as Draco tried to turn on his flashlight in the dark.

"Ugh, why Muggles?" Draco asked, "I could just say 'lumos' and be done with it!"

Hermione blinked before she giggled, "Draco, your pocket."

"What about it?" he asked.

"It's glowing!"

He turned around and, sure enough, his back pocket was glowing. For some reason, he felt embarrassed by this. But he shouldn't have! It was _Granger_, for crying ou-

"You called me Draco," he noticed.

"Well…yeah," Hermione said, "That _is_ your name, right? I mean, it's not Julio is it?"

"No, it's Draco," he said, "You've just never called me that before. It was always Ferret Boy or Malfoy."

Hermione shrugged, which he couldn't see, "Yeah, well, I'm trying to be _nice_, Mal-aahhh. Draco. Now, are you going to turn off your pocket or what? My cousins will flip."

"_Knox._"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Phillip screamed as he came bounding down the stairs, "IT'S FREAKING DARK!"

"Well, yeah," Draco said, "The lights went out."

"DARK! I LOVE THE DARK!" Phillip screamed happily as Hermione paled, "ITS SO SCARY AND COOL! THERE'S NO TELLING _WHAT_ COULD COME OUT AT YOU!"

"PHILLIP!" Hermione screamed, "COULD YOU _PLEASE_ NOT TALK ABOUT DARKNESS AND ITS TERROR AROUND ME?"

"Sorry Mione," Phillip said, not sounding sorry at all.

"Did you see that?" Draco asked suddenly when he saw something white out the corner of his eye.

"Oh, ha ha, Draco," Hermione growled, "It's not funny!"

"No, I'm serious. I saw something," Draco said.

"How? We're in the dark," Phillip said, "I don't know how you can see anything."

"Phillip, do you know where the batteries are?" Hermione asked.

"No. I don't live here," and with that he walked off as though he knew exactly where everything was.

Hermione sighed as she sat down and felt around on a flashlight for the on switch. _Click._ The batteries were dead too. She got the next one and felt around on it. _Click._

She gave a relieved sigh as her face was flooded with light, making her look spooky.

She stood up and pointed the flashlight at Draco, who blinked and put a hand up in front of his eyes.

"We should probably go downstairs," Hermione told him as she walked down the stairs, "Unless you want to have a million pieces of glass zipping through you."

"Well when you put it that way…hey, wait, come back with the light!" Draco said before scrambling after her.

**

* * *

**

Granger House, Living Room

"Okay," Alicia said calmly, "Now…WHAT DO WE DO?"

"If we hear a train then we go down in the basement," Phillip said as if being caught in a nasty thunderstorm was the most natural thing in the world.

"Listen, if we get so freaked out, we go down in the basement. And, yeah, if we hear a train when there are none," Daniel said, "Mione, you and Ali can share a couch, Draco and Phillip can share a couch if Draco can stand the little bugger – "

"I wanna sit next to Phillip," Alicia interrupted.

Daniel blinked, "Uhh…okay. Draco and Mione can share a couch, I guess…."

"What?" Hermione said, her heading popping out from the mountain of blanket she had surrounded herself with, "I don't want to share a couch with it!"

"Him, I'm a _him_, Granger," Draco glared.

"Could've fooled me," Hermione snapped before disappearing underneath the blanket again.

Alicia looked pleadingly at the unmoving mountain of fabric, "_Please_, Mione? I'll majorly owe you."

Hermione's muffled reply was, "You're getting me a book."

Alicia nodded before setting herself gingerly on the couch next to her brother. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them before leaning back into the sofa, staring at the candle in front of her.

"I wish the TV was on. That's the only downside," Phillip said as Daniel sat down on the floor. His older brother arched an eyebrow before smiling and shaking his head.

"I say we tell spooky stories," Daniel joked, looking at the eeping heap of blanket.

"I hate storms. I've hated them since I can remember," Hermione told them, "I just can't remember _why_."

"I remember. You were at our house when you were around two. There was this big nasty storm. It's scarred you and Ali both," Daniel answered, "But, for some reason, the little bugger _likes_ storms."

"I'm not a bugger!" Phillip argued.

During this, Draco got up and took a flashlight with him. He walked down the dark hallways, trying to remember something.

"The room, of course," Draco said suddenly before heading upstairs. He walked into the guest room he shared with Daniel and Phillip and got his book off of the bed. He opened it up and read one of the pages.

_He was walking in the snow, holding his thick jacket close to him. It was one of those rare moments when he was alone, and it bugged him to no end. Nobody was there to talk to him to keep his mind off of…__**her**__. Merlin, when did that girl start taking up so much of his mind? He didn't remember exactly when, he just remembered that it happened three weeks after the "accident". _

_He jumped when something cold and wet hit him in the ear. He whirled around and frowned as he brushed the snow off of his shoulder. He looked around; saw three kids to his far left, two adults to his right, and a huddled figure next to the wall. _

_He frowned and got out his wand, pointing it at the ground, and muttering "Reparo." The snowball pieces jumped together, a few flying off of his shoulder and onto the ground. He then muttered "Windgardium Leviousa." The snowball floated gracefully into the air and stopped above his wand tip. He whirled it around a bit, trying to find out who had thrown it at him. He finally settled on the huddled figure and twitched his wand. The snowball went zooming towards them, but they moved their head a fraction of an inch so that the snowball hit the wall. _

_The figure moved their head up and smiled at him. It was __**her**__. She put her wand in her pocket and scooped up some snow, making another snowball, then throwing it at him. He got it in the face, which was exactly where she had been aiming. _

_He growled her last name as he brushed the snow out of his face, hearing her laugh as she walked closer to him. _

"_What's the matter?" she asked, a teasing glint in her eyes, "Too cold?" _

_He glared playfully at her, "Oh, you're gonna get it!" _

_She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, you're so full of talk." _

"I don't remember that book," Hermione said in the doorway, causing Draco to jump.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't remember ever having that book. Who are the characters?"

"Uhh…it doesn't say. The book just calls them 'he' and 'she'."

"Don't you think that's weird? Here, let me see it," Hermione asked, holding her hand out. He handed the book to her and she opened it up, scanning the pages.

"Uhhh…Draco? This is in another language. One that is unknown to humans and animals alike," Hermione said after a while.

"You're mad, Granger," Draco said, taking the book from her and leaning closer so that she could see the pages. He read an excerpt from it before she stopped him.

"You just talked nonsense! Quit making a fool of me, Malfoy!" Hermione told him.

"What? No, I read _English_, Granger! I – " he looked at the page again, but this time noticed that there were faint markings swimming over the English words. He looked at them closely, but if he focused on them too much, they disappeared.

"What the bloody hell?" he muttered as Hermione stood on her tiptoes to see over his shoulder.

"Who gave you the book?" Hermione asked, her eyes searching his face to see if he was lying.

"You did!"

"No…I didn't. Harry just wrote to me to tell me that I've never sleep walked. Ron agrees with him. So do Ginny and the other Weasleys. Draco…who gave you the book?"

"I…I don't know anymore."

**

* * *

**

Oooohhh…who gave Draco the book? You might never know…okay, yeah, in later chapters, you'll find out. So, Draco and Hermione are going to have to figure out who impersonated Hermione and gave the Draco the book, and find the reason why.

**I don't like this chapter, personally. I don't like Blaise's letter at all. Oh, and what do you think about Luna Lovegood popping up in later chapters? Good idea or not? **

**Oh, I bought songs on iTunes from these bands called **_**Ministry of Magic**_** and **_**The Parselmouths**_**. They're pretty awesome! The **_**Ministry of Magic**_** have a lot of songs! And there are also more bands who sing Harry Potter songs! Awesome! Go check 'em out on Grooveshark! **

**Okay, blah blah blah, review, favorite, alert, whatever. Just let me know you got a pulse, okay? ;)**


	4. Ahhh, Memories

**Hello all! Man, I love this thing. I'm wondering how many chapters I should have. This could be the reason why I'm failing Science…oh well! It was just a progress report! I'll get it back up…maybe….**

**BACK TO THE DRAMIONE! WHOOSH!**

_

* * *

_

Dear Hermione,

_Hello, Harry told me that I would have to write to you sometime. So I am. How's your summer? I heard that Draco Malfoy is being civil. Everyone may not believe it, but I certainly do. _

_My father, step-mother, little brother, little sister and I are going to be in your area tomorrow. Do you think you can be at the mall at around noon? You can bring Draco if you want. I really want to see a familiar face, aside from my own._

_Hope to see you!_

_Luna Lovegood_

"Loony Lovegood wrote to you?" Draco asked as he peered over Hermione's shoulder.

"Hey! _Luna_ is a very nice person! She's just…a little bit different from everyone else. Is that so bad?" Hermione asked.

"Well, if everyone in the entire world were Muggles, then it wouldn't be bad. But there are many types of wizards, and she's a pureblood. Being a strange pureblood just isn't right," Draco answered.

"Well, Luna might be able to help us with your book," Hermione said, "So be nice to her and her family."

"Her _family_? Impossible. It's just Xenophilius and Loo- ahhh. Luna. That's it. Her mum died when she was nine."

Hermione arched an eyebrow, "How do you know that?"

"My mother is in the center of witch gossip," Draco said dully, "You tend to learn things whether you want to or not."

"Well, apparently her dad remarried and had two children. She has a little brother and a little sister," Hermione said, "Although, technically, they'd be her half siblings."

Draco's eyebrows went up, "_Half?_ Luna's the only whole child?"

Hermione sighed, "You have a lot to learn."

**

* * *

**

Grand Hope Mall

"Where are they?" Hermione asked as she looked over her shoulders.

"Maybe they're trying to find nargels," Draco shrugged as he sat on the bench.

"What _are_ nargels, anyway, and why do you know what they're called?" Hermione asked.

"I have no idea what they are, but I heard Lovegood talking about them when she was going back to the castle from Herbology," he answered.

"Hermione!" a dreamy voice said, but sounding pleased nonetheless.

Hermione whirled around and smiled at Luna before hugging her, "Luna! It's so nice to see you again!"

"You too! I'm glad to see that the nargels didn't invade your head," Luna smiled.

"Err…right. Yeah. I'm glad they didn't too," Hermione said.

"Hello, Miss Hermione!" a little girl said bounding up to her. She had the same hair as Luna's, although it was to her shoulders and her bangs were straight across and covered her eyebrows. She looked around five, "My name is Kennedy, and my brother is Evan. He's with Mum and Dad. I had Mum read the interview in Dad's magazine to me, the one with Mister Harry Potter. When Sissy got home, she told me that you had the idea to put the interview in Dad's magazine. You're really smart, Miss Hermione."

"Umm," Hermione said uncertainly, since the child had talked fast in her excitement, "Thank you, Kennedy."

Kennedy took a deep breath, seeming pleased with herself, then looked up at Luna as she took her hand, "I talked. I thought I wouldn't but I did, Sissy!"

Luna smiled, "I know, you did a good job, Kennedy."

"So the thestrals won't eat me now, right?" Kennedy asked worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I don't think they would've eaten you anyway," Draco said. Kennedy blinked when she finally noticed him, then hid behind Luna with a squeak.

"She has this strange idea that you want to hurt her, just because she likes Harry," Luna explained, "But if you ever tried to hurt her or her brother, I'd hex you. I keep trying to tell her that, but she keeps saying that you're a bad person."

"Because he's got no heart?" Hermione asked.

Draco glared at her, "You're so mean to me Grang-gaaah. Hermione."

"You're learning," Hermione smirked.

Luna's eyebrow went up half a centimeter, but she smiled anyway.

Hermione kneeled down to the ground to looked at Kennedy, "Come on, Kennedy. Luna and I will both hex him if he tries to hurt anyone."

This seemed to calm Kennedy down, because she scooted out from behind Luna, who smiled.

"KENNEDY!" a tiny voice screamed before tackling the girl to the ground. Kennedy growled as she got up and glared at her twin brother, who had spiky white-blonde hair. He stuck his tongue out smugly at her before she punched him in the stomach.

"Hey," Luna said dully, "No fighting."

"Yes, Sissy," the two said together. When Luna's back was turned, they continued to wrestle.

"Sissy?" Draco repeated, looking at Luna.

"Yes, well, their mum married my dad, so I became their sister," Luna answered, her voice low enough just so he and Hermione could hear, "But they were too young when they got married to remember. I don't know _why_ he married her. She doesn't believe in _anything_!"

"Luna, dear, get your siblings to stop fighting!" a woman's voice said from far away.

Luna sighed and kneeled down to the twins, "Hey, knock it off, your Mum is getting mad."

"_Our_ Mum, Sissy! Why do you keep saying that she's just Kennedy and I's Mum?" Evan asked as he lied on his back and looking up at Luna's face.

Luna bit her lip and sighed, "Sorry, it slipped my mind."

"So you _won't_ kill us?" Kennedy asked Draco.

"I have no intentions of doing so what so ever," Draco said.

"What?" Kennedy asked while Evan picked his head up and looked at Draco, confused.

"Draco, they're five!" Hermione told him.

"I promise not to hurt you," Draco tried instead.

"Awesome," Evan grinned, "Can I just call you Draco then? Mum told us that we had to call you _Mister_ and Hermione _Miss_. I think that's silly. So can I just call you Draco or what?"

"I don't care," Draco shrugged.

"HEEEERRRR-MIIIIIIIIII-NEEEEEEE!" Alicia called across the mall, "DANIEL WANTS TO GO HOOOO-OOOOMMMMEEE!"

Draco looked up at Hermione from the bench, "Maybe we could ask if they" he gestured towards the Lovegood kids, "want to go to your house with us."

"Our car is pretty filled up," Hermione said, "Luna, how did you get here?"

"We rented a car," Luna answered.

"Oh, great," Hermione smiled, "Do you want to come to my house?"

Luna sighed gratefully, "I'm glad you asked. Let me go ask Dad!" She then ran off, leaving her little brother and sister with Hermione and Draco.

Kennedy looked up at Hermione, smiling, "I like you, Miss Hermione. I like Draco too. I think it'd be cool if you two dated."

Hermione blinked in shock, but Evan interrupted.

"EWWW! KENNEDY! Draco and Hermione don't _like like_ each other! GROSS!"

"YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF RIO…ROM…ROMA…Hermione, what's that word?" Kennedy asked.

"Romance?" Hermione asked, still in shock.

"YEAH! YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF ROMANCE!" Kennedy yelled at her brother.

"I. DON'T. CARE."

"Stop yelling," Luna told them as she walked back, "We can go if you stop yelling."

Kennedy and Evan looked between each other before smiling sweetly up at Luna.

"Good," Luna said, "Now, Hermione, do you know how to drive?"

"Barely. Why?" Hermione asked.

"Okay…Hermione, you need to drive me to your house. And I really need for somebody from your car to ride with me that ways Kennedy and Evan won't be in the dangerous car."

"I don't have a permit, Luna!" Hermione said.

"She'll do it," Draco said smoothly, "Evan and Kennedy can ride in our places."

"_Our_?" Hermione repeated, "What do you mean by '_our_'?"

"It's a pronoun Granger, substituting 'you' and 'I'," Draco said as he stood up, "As in, I'm going to be in the car with you and Lovegood."

**

* * *

**

Rental Car

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Hermione whimpered as she slid into the driver's seat.

"Hold on Luna. Let me have that seat next to Granger's," Draco instructed.

"It's called the passenger seat. Sure," Luna said before jumping over the door in the convertible and getting in the backseat.

"What?" Hermione hissed at him.

"If we get caught, you need me," Draco said as he opened the door and slid in.

"How?"

"First off, try to not act guilty," he instructed before flipping out sunglasses and putting them on.

"Oh yeah, _that_'ll be easy!" Hermione said before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the parking spot.

"See," Draco said, "We haven't gotten caught in the first twenty seconds. The rest should be a breeze."

It was a breeze…for twenty-five miles. Hermione gulped as she pulled the car over before glaring at Draco, who was frozen with his eyes wide. She looked over at Luna, who was watching the blinking red and blue lights in wonder.

The policeman strode up to the car and stared at Hermione. He looked at Draco, who had taken the sunglasses off. He looked at Luna, who looked back at him.

"Hullo," Luna said, "Is there a problem?"

"Actually, you were going five miles _under_ the speed limit," the policeman said, "What's your name, Miss?"

Hermione didn't hesitate though, "Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Huh. Funny name. What's your parents' phone number?" he asked.

"555-0011," Hermione answered, "My brother might pick it up though."

The officer got out his phone and dialed the number.

**

* * *

**

Privet Drive, Number 4

Harry looked up at the telephone, blinked, then looked around. His uncle, aunt and cousin weren't at home and they had locked Harry in the house. He didn't mind though, it had given him a chance to read the Quidditch book Hermione had gotten him. They had told him not to answer the door, answer the phone, go near any of the windows, or be in the kitchen. So far, he had disobeyed two of those rules. One more couldn't hurt.

He got up and answered the phone, "Hullo?"

"Yes, see, your sister – Rowena Ravenclaw – is here, and she seems to have left her driver's license at home. Could you get it and tell me what's on the bottom left of it?" a man said. Whoa. Since when did he have a _sister_ who was the founder of a Hogwarts house?

"Oh yeah?" Harry said, "Let me talk to my sister then."

There was a scuffling sound before he heard Hermione's voice, "Hullo Harry."

"Mione! Why are you driving a car?" Harry asked, "You're fifteen until September!"

"I know, I know," Hermione sighed, "But could you just get my license and tell the man what it says?"

Harry blinked before running upstairs and going through his aunt's purse. He finally got a little card and smiled as he walked down.

"Her age is sixteen," Harry told the officer confidently.

"What's the expiration date?" the officer asked.

Harry squinted at the tiny print, "August Seventh, 2013."

"Thank you, son."

"You're welcome. Can I talk to my sister again? Just for a second."

There was the scuffling sound again, "Hullo again, Harry."

"You are meeting me at The Burrow this summer, whether you like it or not," Harry told her before hanging up.

* * *

**Rental Car**

"What'd he say?" the officer asked.

"Oh, he just wants a ride to the movies tonight," Hermione lied sweetly, "May we go, officer? My boyfriend isn't feeling too well and wants to go home."

The extremely pale Draco Malfoy blinked and looked over at them, "What?"

"You're sick, aren't you, Sweetie?" Hermione asked him.

"Oh. Y-Yeah," Draco said before slumping lower in his seat, actually feeling as if he was about to throw up.

"Alright. But I'm letting you off with a warning," the officer said, "Drive safe!"

"We will!" Hermione said as she pulled onto the road again.

After five minutes, Hermione finally talked, "What the hell?"

Draco blinked twice, "What?"

"You said that I would 'need' you. All you did was sit there!"

"I didn't think we would get caught! You're more responsible than that, Granger, that's why I'm even _in_ this bloody car with you! And what was all that 'boyfriend' crap?"

"Well, Harry is my 'brother'; Luna could be your younger sister with that hair. And what other reason would you be in 'my' car?"

"Well…well…I…aren't you friends with Potter and Weasel? Ha! We could've just been friends!"

"There's too much romantic tension for you to be friends," Luna said from the back. Hermione swerved the car and someone honked at her.

"_What?_" Draco roared, "Loony, you've gone mad!"

Hermione reached over and whacked him in the arm, "Remember what I said at the house?"

"Right. Luna, I've got a book that only I can read, doesn't have a title, doesn't name the characters, and I thought Hermione slept walked and gave it to me, but it turns out that she has never slept walked, and we think that it has a meaning."

"Oh dear," Luna said, her dreamy voice never going up in surprise, "That's a predicament. I'll need the book to do research on the language, then find out what they're saying. I'll have to ask my father on who gave it to you, and we might have to go through your memories – "

"_WHAT?_"

"Oh come _on_, Draco," Hermione sighed, "It's not like you didn't see it coming."

"I refuse then. Nobody is going through my thoughts!"

"Too bad. I'll have Alicia sit on you," Hermione said swiftly, "Oh look, and we're here! I made it!"

Luna jumped over the door again, "Draco, can you give me the book?"

"Will you promise not to go through my thoughts?" he asked warily.

Luna hesitated for a second before nodding. Draco sighed and went in the house to get the book.

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Daniel, Alicia and Phillip are swimming down in the river," Hermione told them, "I said that we couldn't come because we had homework to do. Which really isn't a lie in your case, Draco."

"Why am I up here again?" Draco asked warily as he sat down on the chair.

Luna, Kennedy and Evan walked into the room, Luna locking the door behind her.

"Now, Hermione, I will need you to keep Kennedy and Evan in this room, and I will also need you to keep them from trying to wake us. Tell them a story or something," Luna prompted as she sat in the other chair.

"What's this about?" Draco asked.

"I'm going into your thoughts," Luna said.

"_WHAT? _But you said that –"

"I never _said_ anything. And besides, I had my fingers crossed," Luna said before getting out her wand and tapping it on his head. He immediately shut up and fell asleep.

"Really? That's all it takes?" Hermione said. Luna smiled before gently tapping her wand on her own head, then leaning on her arm and falling asleep.

Hermione looked over at Kennedy and Evan, who were looking up at her expectantly.

"Sooo…want to hear a story?" Hermione asked.

"Sure. Tell us where babies come from," Evan said.

Hermione blinked, "What? Why?"

"Cause nobody will tell us. They keep saying 'you're too young' and blah blah blah. So where do they come from?" Kennedy said.

"Uhhhh….Well…really, that's more of a job…for your mother."

"We already asked her! She wouldn't tell us!" Evan sighed, "She's not cool enough."

"So where do they come from?" Kennedy asked again.

"How about a story about Winnie the Pooh?"

"Who?" the twins asked.

"A toy bear."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Evan asked.

"A boy."

"Why would they name a guy bear 'Winnie'?" Evan asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said.

"So where do babies come from?" the twins asked together.

"Ugghh. You don't give up, do you?"

"No. Where do they come from?" Evan asked.

"They come from the mum's stomachs," Hermione decided.

"But how do they _get_ there?" Kennedy asked, exasperated.

"Uhhhh…."

**

* * *

**

Draco Malfoy's Head

"What the?" Draco said as he looked around, finding himself in a movie theatre with only two seats. A second later, Luna Lovegood appeared next to him.

"Oh, popcorn," she said as she picked up a bag of popcorn and handed it to him, "That just makes it better."

"What is this?" Draco asked.

"It's called 'popcorn'. Muggles eat it when they watch movies. It's very good, actually."

"So…where are we?"

"Technically, we're still at Hermione's house. But, our essences are in your head, about to watch your memories to find out who gave you the book."

"Well, my essence has something sticky on its shoe," Draco said, taking his shoe off and inspecting the bottom of it.

"Don't blame me, it's your head. Although I am glad to see that there aren't that many nargels in here. I could've sworn there'd be much more," Luna said, sounding slightly pleased.

A light came on the screen in front of them and Luna settled down in her seat, fiddling with a remote.

"What's that for?" Draco asked, putting his shoe back on.

"Oh, this is for managing which thoughts I want to see," Luna said.

"Hey! I thought we were just going to watch the one where 'Hermione' gave me the book!" Draco exclaimed.

"Well, there might be some odd instances that you might have experienced before or after you got the book, like seeing a light in pitch blackness, or maybe smelling something in your sleep."

"Would the smell be Phillip's socks? He flings them in his sleep. His brother just told me to fling them back when he does that though."

Luna sighed, "No, like…smelling something that you might smell in Amortentia."

"Seriously? I'm in love with Phillip's stinky sock smell?"

"Man, you're daft. Now shut up, we're going to Hogwarts." Luna then clicked a button on the remote before her 'essence' flew into the screen. She then appeared on it and waited impatiently for him to follow. Draco looked warily at the remote before clicking the button and going into the screen as well.

"Bloody hell, my head," Draco groaned as he held his head.

"Shut up, I'm going to stalk you," Luna said, as if this were completely casual. She then walked towards Memory Draco, who was surrounded by Memory Blaise, Memory Crabbe, Memory Goyle and Memory Pansy.

"I can't _believe_ you have to spend _two months_ with that mudblood!" Memory Pansy said, pouting, "I won't be able to see you with _her_ around, my parents forbid it!"

Memory Blaise leaned over to Memory Draco and whispered to him, "Keep Granger around longer then. Hide the calendars!"

Memory Draco glared slightly at Memory Blaise before grinning at the lot, "Yeah, I mean, who wants to spend a week with a mudblood, let alone _two months_!"

Memory Pansy laughed, "Point taken!"

"Man, I hate Pansy. I don't know _why_ I allow her in a hundred-mile radius of me," Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think my essence landed on its head."

Luna sighed, "Draco, I'm trying to work. Go find something to do."

"Yes Ma'am," Draco said, rolling his eyes and walking off. He stopped when he saw Memory Hermione with her nose in _Hogwarts: A History_.

"Granger, you really never change," Draco told her. She ignored him and kept reading.

"Oh, right, you can't hear me," Draco said dully before smirking, "You can't hear me…which means I can say anything I want."

Before he could start in though, Memory Fred and Memory George walked up to her.

"Ello, Hermione," they said together. Memory Hermione looked up and smiled slightly at them.

"Hello. What's up?" she asked.

"Oh sure, ignore me again," Draco huffed.

"We were just wondering," Memory Fred started.

"If you would be interested," Memory George said.

"In our latest product, made especially with you in mind," they finished together.

"It's creepy how you two do that," Draco told them. They ignored him, of course.

Memory Hermione looked warily at them, "It depends…what is it?"

Memory Fred beamed at his brother, "We're glad you asked!"

Memory George waved his wand and said "Accio products!"

"Product_s?_ As in plural?" Memory Hermione asked, "This can't be good."

"Hush you, we're doing a presentation," Memory Fred scolded as a dozen things came whizzing towards them.

"First off: Ferret Away!" Memory George said proudly, holding up a yellow spray can with a picture of a dead cartoon ferret on it, "Just one spritz and he's asleep! We can't _kill_ anybody, mind you."

"I'm sure you could if you tried," Draco drawled.

"Next up: Invisibility Lozenge. Just pop one in your mouth and you disappear! Cousin to the Headless Hat," Memory Fred winked, holding up a red and yellow stripped cough drop.

"What's a Headless Hat?" Draco asked.

"And our personal favorite," the twins said together before producing a little wrapped up box, "Disguise Surprise!"

"You just pull this little string," Memory Fred instructed, "Hold it close to you, and you get a cool disguise in two to three seconds flat! Then, to get rid of the disguise, you just tap yourself with your wand three times and say 'Coast Clear'. Then, it'll ask you what you want to look like next time, and you can just say that you want black hair, blue eyes, and want to look – say – sixteen years old. If you say a number over sixteen, you'll get a driver's license with a new name. You can even pick out a name too!"

"That would've come in handy earlier today, huh, Granger?" Draco smirked.

"But what if someone wants to drink alcohol? Have you thought of that?" Memory Hermione asked.

"Of course," Memory George said, "That's why we're only letting _responsible_ people know about it! Really, _we_ shouldn't even know about it."

"And for you, it will be free of charge," Memory Fred smiled, "So, what do you say?"

Before she could speak, Draco was tugged up to the Slytherin Common Room against his will.

He appeared next to Luna Lovegood, who was watching Memory Draco and Memory Blaise with interest.

"Mate," Memory Blaise said briskly, "It's sad that I know this before you do. You _fancy_ her. Get a clue!"

"Shhh!" Memory Draco hissed, "Not so loud!"

"We're the only ones here!"

"Or so you think," Draco mumbled. Luna elbowed him lightly.

"I do _not_ like _her_," Memory Draco said.

"So you say. But what do you _think_?" Memory Blaise asked.

"I think that I should pick my friends extremely carefully," Memory Draco said as he slumped on the green couch, "And you're such a hypocrite. I know who you like before you do!"

"Really? Who?" Memory Blaise asked dully.

"No, she's here!" Draco yelled at himself.

"You like Loony Lovegood!" Memory Draco said, ignoring his future self.

Draco looked over at Luna, who hadn't changed much except she had an extremely light pink blush across her cheeks.

"WHAT?" Memory Blaise said, jumping up from his chair, "You're off your rocker!"

"This – This is irrelevant," Luna said, waving her hand back and forth. They were back in the movie theatre, Luna sitting in her seat and clicking through snippets of Draco's memories.

After a moment of her being silent, he started talking, "Are…are you okay?"

Luna nodded, "Its fine. I'm fine. So who is she?"

"Who is who?"

"The girl Blaise thinks you like. Who is she? Of course, I already have an idea of who it could be, but I can hardly ever tell who Slytherins like."

"It's none of your business," Draco told her.

Luna turned towards him and smirked, "I'll find out sooner or later you know."

**

* * *

**

Besides Hermione, Fred, George, Draco, Blaise and Ginny, Luna is my favorite character in the Harry Potter series. She just doesn't really care what you think about her. We need to take a page from Luna's book – er, so to speak.

**I went bowling with my family today. I'm thirteen and I bowled a 102! My dad beat me by twenty points though, in the end. Oh, yeah, and this is only, like, the second time I've ever bowled. But it was really fun! **

**I love all of the reviews you guys are giving me on who it could be that gave Draco the book. Whenever I read them, I think 'Oh, hey, that's a really good possibility.' So you better keep it up! (Cause none of you are getting close. XD)**

**So, next chapter, Hermione has to deal with kids wanting to know where babies come from, and Draco has to deal with Luna sorting through his memories. Awesome!**

**I own Kennedy and Evan Lovegood, and their unnamed mother. I also own Daniel, Alicia, and Phillip Granger, along with the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. **


	5. Gotta Peeeee

**I'm so tired right now, but am in no mood to sleep. It's weird. Anyway, back to the chapter. **

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Kennedy, Evan, I am not going to tell you where they come from and that is _final_," Hermione told them sternly.

A moan was heard from Draco as he stretched and Luna fluttered her eyes open.

"How long were we out?" he asked as he ruffled up his hair.

"Twenty minutes, tops. Do you know who did it?" Hermione asked.

"She looked so much like you, Hermione. But the eyes were blue. And her mouth was thinner. Do you know anybody like that?" Luna asked.

"No, nobody," Hermione sighed, "Can you at least translate the book?"

"I did. It translates into English, and it's just a basic story. Although, it isn't for Muggles, it has spells and charms and potions in them. Both of the characters are wizards, and I _think_ they go to Hogwarts."

Evan picked up the book and squinted at it for a few minutes before saying, "It's about Hermione and Draco."

"What? Impossible," Draco told him, "The characters are basically dating. We're not. And we never will."

"Well…in the first chapter, it mentions an accident…" Luna trailed off, "That causes them to become closer. You and Hermione had an accident in Potions class…."

"But it's not making us closer!" Hermione and Draco said together, which caused them to look at each other in surprise and cause poor Kennedy to start giggling.

"Hey, Draco, Luna, can I ask you something?" Evan asked.

"Shoot," Draco said.

"Where do babies come from?" he asked. Draco and Luna both froze while Hermione sighed.

"I've had to deal with this for twenty minutes," she told them.

"Well…see…the baby…comes from the mum's stomach and…" Luna muttered.

"We _know_ that!" Kennedy said, "We want to know how they _get_ there!"

"Well…see…they…" Draco said. Hermione giggled before exiting the room and closing the door behind her, taking Draco's book with her.

**

* * *

**

River Behind the Granger House

Hermione paced the banks of the quiet river, since her cousins had headed up to the house fifteen minutes ago. She was staring at the pages of the book, which looked like chicken-scratch to her.

"Why do you want him to read you, but not me?" she mumbled to herself.

The book's language changed from unidentifiable to what looked like Chinese.

"You change!" Hermione whispered in delight, "Wonderful, wonderful…." She started to pace faster and twirl around quicker.

Draco weaved in between the trees towards the river, since Alicia had demanded that he go out and find her since he had 'lost' her.

He broke into the clearing in front of the river bank to see Hermione pacing with a book in front of her nose…_his_ book. As she was pacing, she was getting closer and closer to the edge.

"Hey!" he screamed and she snapped her head up to look at him innocently.

"You need to watch where you're going, Granger! You almost went over the edge!" Draco told her.

Hermione stared at him blankly, "Granger? Oh…oh right. Right. Yeah. Sorry."

"Well?" he said after a minute of them standing there.

"Well what?" she asked.

"Alicia wants you," Draco said, "And I want my book. I still want to see the ending."

"Ohh…right!" Hermione said happily, her face lighting up and walking over to hand him the book, "I'll go see what she wants! Thanks, Draco!" And then she skipped past him.

"Oookaaaay…what kind of drugs has _she_ been taking?" Draco mumbled to himself.

**

* * *

**

Granger House

Draco walked in behind Hermione, but he didn't really hear what the others were saying, since he was absorbed in his book.

"Mione! Oh, great news!" Alicia said happily, "You got asked out! A boy called and said that he wanted to see you at the mall! Isn't that _exciting_!"

"Yeah!" Hermione agreed quickly before stopping herself, "I mean, who was it?"

"Alicia, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Harry Potter called her and said that he just wanted to talk to her!" Phillip said, "He just wants to see her! It isn't a date!"

Hermione closed her eyes then blinked a few times before saying, "Uhh, what? I, I kind of…spaced out."

"Harry Potter wants to see you at the mall," Alicia said, disappointed she wasn't going to be able to pick out her cousin's outfit.

"What does Harry want to see me for?" Hermione asked.

"How should I know?" Alicia sighed before grabbing a magazine and heading off to the living room.

"Can we hang out with Draco, Sissy?" Evan asked once Phillip got bored and left.

"Yeah!" Kennedy agreed, "We don't exactly want to be attacked by demeanies."

"Dementors, Kennedy," Luna corrected, "I guess its okay. Draco, can you watch them for me?"

"Sure," Draco said, not really paying attention.

"Yay!" the twins said together.

Half an hour later, everybody was ready to go to the mall to meet Harry. Everyone, that is, except Draco.

"I never agreed to watch them!" he hissed at Luna as she stepped out the door.

"Uh, yeah, you did," Hermione said, "That book has got you brainwashed. You have no idea what you do when you're reading it. I recommend putting it in a locked chest before anything bad happens to you."

"You're _recommending_ it. Which means I won't do it," Draco said smugly.

"Fine. Get eaten for all I care," Hermione said dully before heading out the door. Daniel and Luna shared a sigh before looking at each other with sad looks.

"Alright…so what now?" Draco asked the twins once the others had left.

"I dunno!" Kennedy said, "You're our babysitter! Aren't you supposed to have something planned?"

"Right, right…uhhh…go represent the Lollipop Guild," Draco ordered.

"_What?_" Evan asked, looking at him as if he were nuts. Draco smacked a hand to his forehead before taking it off and smiling.

"Perfect! Granger said that it was the perfect movie!" Draco said happily before walking into the living room.

"A what?" Kennedy asked her brother as he slid down off the chair.

"Just go with it, Ken, he's obviously crazy," Evan said. Kennedy nodded before sliding down her chair as well.

**

* * *

**

Grand Hope Mall

"Hi Harry! I beat my cousin here! Man, she's blind," Alicia grinned as she jogged up to him.

Harry smiled as he looked at Hermione's cousin, "Hi Alicia. How's she blind?"

"Oh, not actually blind! That would be terrible! No, I mean, she can never spot anybody from a crowd. And you're not even _in_ a crowd!" It was true, Harry was standing by himself in the middle of the mall.

"Harry!" Hermione said happily as she hugged him, "It's so nice to see you! Ali, have you been bugging him?"

"No Mione," Alicia sang as she danced in a circle.

"Hermione!" Ron said, running towards them and capturing her in a hug.

"Ron!" Hermione laughed, "What are you doing here?"

"Harry called me on the pheletone and said that he was going to meet you here. Ginny, Fred, and George are around here somewhere…."

"You mean a telephone?" Alicia asked.

"Er…yeah. That. Right. I got tongue-twisted," Ron said, looking over at Harry with a look that said 'Did-she-buy-it?' Harry nodded and he sighed as he let go of Hermione.

"MIONE!" Ginny screamed as she ran to hug her as well.

"Ginny!" Hermione laughed, hugging her back, "Man, I'm getting hugged left and right!"

"Now you are!" the twins said as they sandwiched her and Ginny between them.

"How have you been? Where's Draco? Did you kill him yet?" Ginny asked quickly.

"Why does everybody think I killed him?" Hermione asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Harry asked, "The whole 'M' word and you landing a punch on him in third year –"

"You _punched_ him?" Alicia gaped at Hermione, "Holy crap, way to go, Mione! My cousin – a slugger!"

"Alicia! It wasn't like that! It wasn't at random, he just got me so mad and – oh, never mind," Hermione huffed.

Ron laughed, "Yeah, 'mad' – the understatement of the year!"

"Oooh, really? How bad was it?" Alicia asked him.

"Uhhh…you know…he just kept egging her on and…" Ron shrugged, "She punched him. That's it."

Alicia pouted, "That's it? She got mad and punched him?"

"Originally she was going to do much more damage to him, I believe," Fred said.

"HERMIONE!" a blonde headed girl said before hugging her with all her might, "Ohhh, Mione, it's so great to see you again! I mean, really, I'm usually gone during the summer and you're _never_ here during the school year and – Oh, Alicia! It's nice to see you too!" The blonde girl wrapped an arm around Alicia and brought her into the hug.

"Bubbles!" Alicia laughed, "Wow, you're really toned down today, huh?"

"Oh yeah, my parents cut me off the coffee," the blonde headed girl, Bubbles, sighed before she smiled, "Ohhh, Mione, remember _Eric_ and that _huge_ crush he had on you? He still has the crush on you Mione, he still does!"

Hermione was blushing as she unwrapped Bubbles's arm from around her neck, "Erm…okay."

"And Bloss is having a party on Saturday, and he _really_ wants to see you there," Bubbles giggled. Alicia started smiling at her cousin, while Hermione started blushing deeper.

"Bub, I-I really don't think…" Hermione started before she stopped and stared into space for three seconds. When her eyes came back into focus, she beamed at her, "I could pass that up! What time?"

"Ohhhh, Mione!" Bubbles beamed, "I knew you wouldn't let us down! It's at eight o'clock, and don't worry, there's, like, no alcohol. You know Bloss; she'd deck somebody if they brought anything like that to _her_ party. Listen, I gotta go, but I'll see you on Saturday!" And with that she skipped away while Hermione, Harry, and the Weasleys were looking confused.

"What just happened?" Hermione asked, looking around at the faces of her friends.

"You, my friend, gave me an excellent excuse to practice my magic!" Alicia said, giving her infamous wicked grin, "You need a cute outfit to wear for _Eric_. Man, I'm glad we're at a mall!"

Hermione looked around her cousin's shoulder and glared at an innocent looking Harry, "Yeah. _Real_ glad. Alicia, why don't you go…hang out with Ron and Ginny?"

"Oh sure!" Alicia said, "Maybe then I can get them to tell me who else you hit at school! Bye!" She then whirled around and walked off with the two Weasleys, the twins and Harry being left behind with Hermione.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Hermione asked him.

"How was I supposed to know you were going to say yes?" Harry asked.

"Who's Eric?" George asked mischievously.

"Never you mind. Harry, listen, Draco's got this book – "

"_Whoa._ Back up," Harry said, "Did you just call him _Draco_?"

"Yes," she sighed impatiently as Fred and George gave each other looks behind her, "Anyway, he's got this book that only he can read but he says that I gave it to him! But Luna went in his head and saw that I didn't! It was somebody else! And, Harry, I feel that something very bad will happen soon!"

"Like what? Voldemort coming back?" Fred whispered to her.

"No, no, not like that…like something's about to be dug up…" Hermione said, staring at her shoes for a moment.

"Like…your cousins finding out about wizards?" Harry asked, looking across the mall at Alicia animatedly talking to Ron.

"I don't know…something bad," Hermione bit her lip.

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Was that supposed to be cool?" Evan asked Draco as the credits for the _Wizard of Oz_ popped up, "Because it wasn't."

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I thought little kids would like it. Apparently, I was wrong."

"Duh. Now tell us how babies get in the mum's stomachs," Evan persisted.

"Wow, you don't give up, do you? Where's your sister?" Draco asked.

"I dunno. She said she had to pee, but that was an hour ago."

Kennedy decided to come striding into the room with a book held up to her face. Draco sat up a little straighter when he saw that it was his. She lowered it and looked at him before walking over to him and sitting in his lap. He looked shocked at this before she pointed down at a page.

"That's you, isn't it?" she asked, pointing at a blonde headed painting in his book.

"So now it draws, does it?" he mumbled to himself before he noticed that it _was_ him. It was a picture of him in the Great Hall, sandwiched between a blonde headed girl and a greasy black headed boy.

"I'm in the book?" he asked.

"Could be your daddy," Kennedy said, "Doesn't Snape have that kind of hair?" She was now pointing at the boy, but before Draco had time to comment the picture swirled and changed to him being sandwiched between Pansy and Blaise.

"Yeah, it's been doing that for a while. Last time it was Harry Potter with brown eyes talking to a guy with black hair and a girl with red hair, then it changed to Harry Potter with green eyes talking to Ron Weasley and Hermione."

"Kennedy…when did it start doing this?" Draco asked, not caring that Loony Lovegood's sister was sitting in his lap and pointing at pictures.

"Oh, a while ago," Kennedy shrugged, "There was one that was a picture of a littler version of Hermione standing next to another little Hermione with brown hair and blue eyes. They looked younger than me, like three or four."

Draco beamed at the little girl, "Thank you, Kennedy, nobody else would've been able to notice this until it was too late!"

"Oh, I know. It already told me," Kennedy said matter-of-factly.

Draco's grin wiped off his face, "What? What already told you?"

Kennedy smiled, "The book did, silly! Words popped up on the page and started talking to me!"

"Did the book say a name? Any name?" Draco asked her.

"…Actually…ye - no. I mean no!" Kennedy said before looking up fearfully at him.

"Kennedy, please, it's very important that you tell me," Draco pleaded, "It's a life or death situation."

Kennedy then started to tear up, "I can't! I can't tell you! It told me not to or I'd get in big trouble!" She then jumped up from Draco's lap, the blank book bouncing off of her lap and onto the floor, and ran up the stairs to lock herself in Hermione's room.

Everything was silent as Draco absorbed what the little girl had said. The book was now contacting people. It was also giving off pictures. And now other people besides him could read it. This was bad, very bad. There was no telling what the book – or whoever was controlling the book – wanted out of talking to Draco or Kennedy. There was no identifiable reason as to why it had chosen _him_, and the Grangers, and the Lovegoods. Was it just at random? And who had given him the book anyway?

"Does she have to pee again?" Evan asked him suddenly, not fully comprehending why his sister had ran out of the room.

**

* * *

**

If you people can't figure out who gave Draco the book now, I will seriously slap myself. I'm not kidding. I'll do it! But, then again, I'm not trying to give everything away at once. That'd be bad.

**And yes, I know that there was a blonde girl named Bubbles, so obviously she has a friend named Blossom and possibly and friend named Buttercup. Well, you're wrong. :p Bloss is a nickname, and there is no Buttercup. Bubbles just fit with the character description I had in my mind. Oh, and she was wearing a yellow sundress, not blue like most of you probably thought. **

**Oh, poor Evan, you think your sister has to pee a lot when really she's being harassed by Draco and a book. But we can't expect him to understand that. He's a five-year-old boy who never pays attention. Be patient with him. **

**Birdie out! :p **


	6. Questions About Life

**Okay, yeah, I know, Bubbles popped in randomly. Arrrgh. I couldn't find a good place to stick her in besides having them go to the mall. I mean, it can't just be like 'knock' 'knock' "Hi! My name is Bubbles!" So…at least I gave it a proper place and stuff, you know? **

**Anyway, believe it or not, I already have an idea for a future chapter. Yay! Okay, so…next chapter! :D**

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Alright then," Draco mumbled, arching an eyebrow at the person who had screamed.

"MY HAIR! ALICIA!" Phillip screamed as he looked in the hallway mirror, to which his auburn hair was now bright pink, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Alicia walked down the hall and stopped when she saw her little brother's hair, "Oh no…oh, _Phillip._ That was my _only_ bottle of washout streaks with my shade!"

"I-It washes out?" Phillip said, still staring at his reflection.

"Of course, you dummy. Like I would do that to my hair," Alicia said, "It comes out in a few weeks; you just have to keep taking showers like mad."

"It comes out! I'M NOT A FREAK!" Phillip said happily.

"I beg to differ," Draco told him.

"Shut up," Phillip said, glaring at him before running to his cousin, "MIONE! HUG ME! I'M CONTAGIOUS!"

"Holy crap, Phillip!" Hermione screamed at him, "What'd you do to your hair?"

"I thought Alicia's streaks were my shampoo. NOW HUG ME SO YOU CAN HAVE PINK HAIR TOO!" Phillip beamed, holding his arms out.

"Alicia, why do you need streaks?" Hermione asked, trying to avoid a hug from Phillip.

"Forget that!" Alicia said, "Did you just say 'holy crap'?"

"Well, yes. What's the big deal? You say it all the ti-"

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY COUSIN? You _never_ curse!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as Draco gaped at her, "Well, you, Ron, Ginny and the Weasley twins definitely have mouths, so of course I'd eventually say something like 'holy cra'-"

"_NO!_ I _FORBID_ YOU TO SAY IT!" Alicia screamed at her.

"Why?" Phillip asked, giving up on trying to hug Hermione.

"That's _MY_ _word_!" Alicia screamed.

"You're bonkers," Draco finally concluded, "Absolutely _bonkers._"

"You're one to talk," Hermione told him.

"Oh?" he asked with a bored expression on his face. They had been doing this for a week. They had stopped being on a first-name basis, they had stopped being on a _last_-name basis, and had now gone back to 'Ferret Boy' and 'Wormy'. And he didn't know _why_ it had started up again. He forgot who started it. He thought he did, but he couldn't remember why. Oh wait, now he remembered.

It was the night she had returned from the party.

Tom and Patricia were going to their respective dental practices and told Daniel that he would have to behave and wait for Hermione to come home. And he did just that. He had even sat in front of the window with his face plastered to it. For the whole _freaking _time she was gone. But Draco didn't have the faintest idea as to why she had left him with these _loons_.

Because nobody had told him where she had gone to.

That's why he was sitting on the floor in the guest room, reading his creepy book but not paying attention to it, because he was wondering where she had gone to. He hadn't even seen her leave. He had just looked up and noticed that she wasn't there. He was sitting there, pretending to read for no one, and listening for nothing in particular.

No, wait, that was a lie.

He was listening for the sound of the front door opening and then closing. Or maybe even the back door. Hell, he was even listening for a car door being closed.

He didn't know why he cared. Wait – he _didn't_ care! He didn't…he _did not_…okay, maybe a little. But, she was the only link he had to the magical world, to his school life, aside from the annoying letters from Blaise. That was why he cared, right? Right. _Riiiiiight…._

"Mione!" Alicia said happily downstairs, "She's home, she's home, she's – OH DANIEL, HOW OLD ARE YOU, REALLY?"

"Gaaarrrgh," was Daniel's reply. Draco put his book down and crawled slowly on his hands and knees to stick his head out of the railing to look at the front door, where Alicia was waiting impatiently.

Hermione opened the door and shut it by putting her back against it. She was wearing a red tank top with a gold belt and black skinny jeans with red sequined flats. _Gryffindors_, Draco thought. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she was trying to calm herself down, while Alicia was looking at her expectantly.

She finally opened her eyes with a sigh and a smile and said, "Kissing is a magnificent thing." This caused Alicia to squeal happily and hug her cousin.

This also caused Draco to freeze before taking his head back into the hall before going back to his book as if nothing had happened.

But something _had_ happened. And he didn't know what it was.

"- and you've been acting as if I'm the bloody freaking plague!" Hermione told him.

"Oh, sorry, have you been talking?" he asked dully.

"Arrrgh, Draco Malfoy, you're such a conceited prick!"

"And you, Hermione Granger, are destined to be killed just by helping Potter!" he spat back. Nobody had _ever_ called him a prick. And was it weird that he liked her first name just because it was different? It was weird, wasn't it? Damn.

"Is that it then? Is that why you've become so cold to me?" she asked him, "You used to actually be _pleasant!"_ Phillip and Alicia looked over at Draco, wondering who was going to kill who.

"No, that's not why I've become so 'cold' to you, Granger," he growled. Great. They were back to last-names. "I've become so 'cold' to you because…because…."

"Because _what_?" she snapped.

"Because you got a boyfriend," Daniel said. Hermione and Draco jumped, seeing as they hadn't noticed he was there, and also by his accusation.

"What?" Draco asked. He was actually using a nicer tone to Daniel, seeing as he had been helping him with Granger things, such as flinging Phillip's socks back to him in the middle of the night. Huh. Draco Malfoy being nice to a Muggle. Who'da thunk?

"He started acting like that when _Eric_," he spat the name out before hissing, "_kissed you._ Sodding bloody pile of –"

"Daniel!" Hermione gasped, outraged, "You used to like Eric!"

"'_Used to'_ are the key words, Hermione. Ever since he's been sucking your face off – "

"Daniel! That is _quite_ enough!" Alicia screamed at him, taking a McGonagall tone, "Seriously, how old are you? You're bloody acting like you're five!"

Daniel shrugged nonchalantly, "He's an arse."

"Go," Alicia ordered him, "_Now_."

He glared at his little sister, "_No._"

"I happen to like Eric – " Alicia started, hands on her hips as she looked up at her big brother before he interrupted.

"Then why don't _you_ date him?" he asked.

"Because Mione's dating him!"

"So you're saying that when they break up that you'll date him? And yes, there is a 'when'. They won't last."

"I never said that I would date him! If he hurt my cousin I'd knee 'im! And how would you know if they didn't last?" Alicia screamed at him, "Just because you're a freaking protégé? Just because you get A's without trying? Huh?"

He gave a one shoulder shrug, "Shot in the dark."

"Well stop shooting the dark! Mione will live a perfectly happy, healthy, _normal_ life – WHERE THE _FREAK_ DID THAT _WALL_ COME FROM?" Alicia asked, seeing as she had walked straight into a wall in her fit of rage.

"Right. _Normal._ Because all Grangers are definitely normal," Daniel rolled his eyes.

After a few hours after that, the little group had broken apart and was awkwardly avoiding each other around the house. It seemed that everybody wanted to be alone. Especially Draco with his book.

He sat sitting Indian style and holding the book in his lap, staring at the words swimming around on the pages.

_Why are you doing this to me?_ He thought dully to the book.

The words swam into focus to spell: _Doing what, Draco Malfoy?_

"Bloody hell," he whispered in awe. The words swam again to spell: _No profanity, please._

_Err, right_, he thought, feeling extremely uncomfortable talking/thinking to a book before remembering how mad he was at it, _and_ _you know __**exactly**__ what you're doing to me_.

_Do I, now? I don't remember doing anything to you. As you can obviously see – I am a book. I don't do much._

_Bloody hell,_ he thought-glared, _You're doing enough! Remember talking to Kennedy and showing her those pictures?_

_Ahhh, yes, Kennedy. She's a smart girl, that one. Caught on quick that I was showing her the parents at Hogwarts, along with their generations._

_**Why?**_

_I dunno, it was fun? I rarely get to show others my pictures._

"You bloody freaking book," he was talking out loud now. That wasn't good, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you into the fire!"

_I hold the secrets of your lives, Draco, both you and Hermione alike. I know e__**xactly**__ what's going to happen. I know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, fifty years from now…_

_And besides, I'd just come back anyway if you burned me. That's how magic works, silly!_

_That was __**two**__. I only asked for one._

_Yeah, well, I'm a book, not a calculator. _

_What do you __**want**__ from me?_ He practically begged.

_I want you to quit…_

_Shush…_

_Oh no…not now. I was afraid this would happen._

_You need to go to her. __**NOW.**_

_Who?_ He thought urgently, _Go to who?_

_**HERMIONE, WHO DO YOU THINK?**_

_Well, where is she?_

_In the freaking library!_

_I thought you said no profanity?_

_JUST FREAKING GO!_

**

* * *

**

Granger House, Library

She couldn't believe it. She _could not_ believe it. She had gone crazy. That was the only explanation possible as to what had happened. Surely this had not…no…wait…she was dreaming. Yes. These whole entire weeks have been lies! Yes, that was it!

…No…no, it wasn't it. She was very much awake and still as sane as she was before…

…Maybe…

They had been dating for five days…

And that's it. He had just e-mailed her and said that he wanted to see other girls. She had wandered into the small library. It wasn't as big as the one in Hogwarts, but it was big enough to hide in the corner. She was sitting against the wall and staring blankly ahead, her knees folded up to her chest, and not crying. She thought about it, sure. She had given up five days for that guy, when she could've been doing something much more productive of her time.

The first thing that came to her mind was Draco. And his book. Let us not forget his book. She usually focused on books, not people. But why was she suddenly focused on Draco?

And her cousins.

Let us not forget her cousins.

They had been fighting, Daniel and Alicia, over stupid stuff. Like who ate the last marshmallow when they made s'mores. Or who was looking at the other funny. She didn't know why they had started doing this until today, with the massive fight she had had with Draco and Alicia had had with Daniel.

A tear slid involuntarily down her cheek as she thought that she had torn her cousins apart.

"All because of a stupid guy," she mumbled to nobody, "All because of a stupid, sodding, soon to be _bleeding_, guy."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you're still making random death threats," Draco said as he leaned against a bookshelf, "I would have been worried if you had just crumpled up into a huge crying hea-"

"Shut up, Malfoy, I'm not in the mood," she snapped as another tear slid down her cheek.

"At least I know you're not insane," he smiled weakly before sighing and sitting down to the right of her, putting his right knee up in the air so his right arm would have something to stand on so it could hold his head. He looked at her and she tilted her head to look back at him.

"You aren't going to turn into a crumpled, crying heap, are you?" he whispered to her.

"Trying not to," she mumbled back.

"Alright. I don't know what I'd do if you started crying," he said. He really didn't. He was usually the one who started the waterworks, not the one who had to deal with them. But…she wasn't crying that hard. She was like a leaky faucet, a few tears dripping down occasionally. He could deal with that.

"So…what are you doing here?" she asked finally.

"Err," he said, looking away from her, "I don't know. I just…something told me to come here. So I did. Ta-da."

"Wow…wait, did it come from in your head?" she asked.

"Yes," he lied, still not looking at her.

"Was the voice yours?"

"Yes," he lied again, now looking at her forehead. Was it weird to say that she had a nice forehead? It didn't have zits or scars where zits had been on it. Yeah, it's weird to tell somebody that they had a nice forehead. This could be exactly why he didn't tell her that.

"Great," she mumbled into her elbow, "So at least one of us isn't insane."

"Okay, what are you talking about?" he asked her.

She closed her eyes, "I seriously think I'm going crazy. I keep blacking out at the strangest moments, and during my little blackouts I apparently talk extremely coherently for a person who is currently losing their mind."

"You mean when you act funny and make me think you're high?" he asked.

She smiled slightly with her eyes still closed, "Yes, that."

"Please don't act high again. You scar me when you do that…" he said before adding, "_For life._"

Her smile grew a little and she opened her eyes, "Seriously, why are you even here?"

"Well, see, we weren't paying attention in Potions cla-"

"No, you idiot! I mean, what are you doing sitting here, on the ground, in the library of a muggle home, with me?" she asked, "I thought you hated me."

"I _did_," he sighed before looking at his knee, "But…I dunno…spending three weeks with you has been fun, actually. I never knew you liked to eat melted marshmallows and potato chips, and frankly, I could've lived my whole life without knowing that."

"Tater-Mallow is delicious!" Hermione told him, straightening up and revealing her face from behind her elbow, "You _need_ to try it!"

Draco made a face, "I'll pass. But…I don't hate you anymore. I think I could actually live with being friends with you, if you could."

She stared at him for a long time and he was started to worry that she'd say 'no'. That would be extremely embarrassing.

"That's it. I need to go to St. Mungo's. I've gone _mental._ Draco Malfoy wants to be friends with me, Hermione Granger. _Mental, I tell you!_" she said finally, although there was a teasing air about her.

He nudged her playfully, "Oh, shut up."

"MIONE!" Kennedy said happily before she landed in her lap. Hermione twitched in alarm before smiling down at the little girl.

"Hi Kennedy. Is your sister here?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yeah," Kennedy smiled, "All two of 'em."

"HEY!" Evan said in the doorway, glaring at his sister, both for calling him a girl and getting to sit with Hermione.

Luna walked in and stared at the scene calmly, "They wanted to watch _Bambi_ with you."

"Sorry, I can't watch _Bambi_," Hermione said, "I laugh whenever the mum dies."

Kennedy, Evan and Draco gaped at Hermione in horror as Luna twitched one shoulder up in a shrug.

"You _laugh_ when Bambi's mum _dies?_" Draco repeated.

"Yup. I think it's funny how Bambi sounds like a girl and then starts saying 'Mother! Mother!' Ohh, quit staring at me like that!" she told him as he continued to look at her as if she were a strange bug.

"You laugh at the saddest part of the whole movie?" he asked.

"Yes. Disney can do better. I don't like Flower much either though."

"You didn't like _Flower_?" Kennedy asked her.

"No. He's too weird for me."

"You're too weird for you," Draco said, rolling his eyes. She elbowed him and frowned.

"What about _Aladdin?_ Can you watch that without laughing at the sad parts?" Luna asked innocently.

"Mmmm…no, I laugh at the extremely mushy parts. They bug me too much," Hermione answered.

"_Cinderella?_" Luna asked.

"NO!" Evan screamed while Kennedy pouted.

"What about," Luna tapped a finger to her chin, "_Beauty and the Beast?_"

Hermione stared at Luna before saying, "I don't remember that one at all."

"YAY!" Kennedy said happily, "I like Belle! And Chip! Oh, and the Candleman!"

"His name is Lumiere, Kennedy," Luna told her, "Alright…do you have the movie?"

"No," Hermione said as she stood up and put Kennedy on her hip, "We're going to have to go to Wal-Mart."

"What?" everybody asked her, staring at her in funny ways.

"It's a _store_. We need rides…there's five of us…somebody's going to have to stay here so Daniel can drive," Hermione said.

"I can stay," Luna said, "I'll try to figure out the book."

"Alright. Come on Draco, Evan," Hermione said, walking out of the room. Kennedy peeped over Hermione's shoulder and stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Dan-iel!" Hermione sang, "We need a ri-ide!"

"Ok-ay! One sec-ond!" he called back before running down the stairs.

"Where to, my lords and ladies?" he asked.

"Wal-Mart," Hermione said, "Can you handle it?"

"Eh," he shrugged as he grabbed his aunt's car keys out of a bowl, "Maybe. We'll see when we get there, won't we?"

**

* * *

**

Wal-Mart

"This is so cool!" Evan said happily as he ran a giant circle around Hermione and Draco. Kennedy was looking up at the Barbies in wonder.

"They look so…unreal. Their waists are too skinny and they have big –" Kennedy started before Hermione placed a hand over her mouth.

"That's enough, Kennedy," she giggled nervously.

"No, no, let her continue," Draco added smugly, "I want to see what she thinks."

"Draco Malfoy, I swear, I am going to –" but Hermione was cut off by Kennedy talking again. She had taken her hand off of Kennedy's mouth to point threateningly at Draco.

"They have tiny feet too. How do their shoes stay on? And why are they all _blonde_? Are Muggles prejuiced? And why is her box pink? Do they think all little girls like pink?" Kennedy spouted, "Where are the guy dolls?"

"Down that aisle," Draco told her happily, pointing down the pink aisle littered with girls' toys.

Hermione growled at him, but stopped him when he tried to follow her. She pushed him back and he watched her stunned. Nobody had ever done that before.

"Oh no. You are _not_ going to mess things up anymore. You and Evan are going down the movie aisle to find the movie," Hermione told him with narrowed eyes. She then turned him around and pushed him forward.

"Hermione," Kennedy said, "The guys look more like girls than the girls do." She was holding a Ken doll and looking intently at his eyes, "And he dresses like a girl too."

"Uhhh…that's…because…" Hermione said, trying to find an answer. But Kennedy had put the doll back and walked across to the other side and picked up another doll.

"She's got a big head and big feet. And she has no nose. Why do all these dolls look so silly?"

"Because that's what some people think girls should look like," Hermione told her, "They think that they should have skinny waists and skinny shoes and big –" she coughed into her fist, "And that everyone shouldn't have a nose."

"But…" Kennedy furrowed her eyebrows, "You have a nose. And everything on you is normal size. And you're pretty. Somebody should make a doll out of you instead." And with that she skipped away to find her brother and Draco.

Hermione watched as she skipped away before smiling and shaking her head, "No I'm not, Kennedy." She walked out of the aisle, right when Draco was running into her.

"Malfoy! What's the matter with you?" she demanded.

"I lost," he panted, "I lost."

"Lost what?" she asked.

He stopped panting and stared at her with a scared expression on his face before finally saying, "I lost Evan."


	7. Whoops?

**Hello everybody! And to answer a question in the reviews – I'm not **_**entirely**__**sure**_** that they have Wal-Marts in England. I mean, they must, right? Isn't it **_**everywhere**_**? Huh. Maybe I should've Googled it….**

**Anyway, back to the sho-**_**story**_**. I mean story. Yeah….**

**

* * *

**

Wal-Mart

"YOU LOST A CHILD?" Hermione screamed at him, "HOW DO YOU LOSE A CHILD?"

"I don't know," Draco asked snidely, "Why don't you ask Kennedy? Oh wait, you can't!"

"Why not?" Hermione snapped.

"Because _she isn't HERE_!"

Hermione spun around in a circle before staring at him, pale faced.

"I lost her!" she admitted finally.

"Duh! Now let's find them!" Draco ordered before grabbing her hand and running in a random direction. She kept up with him, but stopped a few times because she thought she saw one of them.

"We've lost them," Hermione murmured to herself after a few minutes, "Correction, _I've_ lost them. It was my idea to come here in the first place."

"Correction," Draco said quickly as he practically ran inside of Wal-Mart, "_We've _lost them. I'm just as responsible as you are." Hermione blinked in shock at him. Draco Malfoy admitting that he was at fault? Impossible!

"Do _you_ need to go to St. Mungo's?" she asked him warily.

"No. Why?"

"You just admitted that you were guilty of something. You _never_ do that."

He shrugged, "Hurry up and find them, Granger, before their sister finds out and starts being violent."

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Daniel asked happily as he stopped them, "You look like you're in a hurry."

"Oh," Hermione said, "Uh, we're…um…looking for hair dye…for Alicia."

"Yeah!" Draco said, "You know how she said she needed some more? That's exactly what we're doing!"

Daniel smirked and nodded, "Mmmhmm. So, uh, where are Evan and Kennedy?"

Hermione went pale again and Draco flapped his mouth soundlessly and uselessly.

"Yeah," Daniel was now frowning at them, "I found them with the fish."

"The fish," Hermione said, dazed, "They were with the fish. We passed the fish five times."

"Hermione Jean Granger, I thought you were more responsible than that!" Daniel told her, "They're five! Good grief, Mione, you have to watch them! Hell, Alicia has to watch _me!_ My own little sister has to make sure I don't wander off! And I found the kids you lost? Oh irony, thou art a heartless soul."

Hermione hung her head and rubbed her forearm, "I'm sorry, Daniel."

Draco looked at him, slightly glaring, "So, uh, where are they?"

"Right here," Daniel waved behind him, where nothing was.

"Daniel…they're not there," Hermione told him. He turned around and screamed "I LOST THEM!"

Hermione got out a weird contraption and punched it with her index finger a few times before bringing it up to her head.

"_Hey Mione,_" Alicia said happily, "_Whatcha up to?_"

"We lost Evan and Kennedy," Hermione blurted.

"_Uh-huh. Who are you talking about when you say 'we'?_" Alicia asked dully.

"Daniel, Draco and I," Hermione said, her other hand coming up to play with a piece of her hair nervously.

"_Uh-huh. Did you check the fish?_"

"That's where they were the first time."

"_So you lost them twice? Huh. Check the video games aisle. That's where Phillip always is when I lose him. But don't tell Mum. Shhhh. Oh, hey, pick me up some hot pink and some neon blue wash out hair dye, will ya? Love ya!"_

Hermione snapped the thing shut and put it in her pocket, "Video games." She then ran off in that direction, Daniel and Draco tying for second place.

"Evan! Kennedy!" Hermione sighed as she saw them watching a tall black haired boy play an X-Box game.

"Hi Hermione," the twins chorused. Hermione smiled and walked towards them before hugging them both.

"Please don't do that again," she told them. They nodded as Draco walked up to them. But he didn't stop at the twins or Hermione.

He stopped next to the tall black haired guy, glared, and asked, "What the hell, Blaise? Are you stalking me?"

Blaise smiled and gave a one armed shrug, "Video games are addicting, apparently. You should try it. There's this one video game console called a 'Wii' and –"

"_Blaise?_" Hermione repeated, "Your parents let you come to _Wal-Mart_?"

Blaise grimaced, "Ahhh. They don't know yet." He then started beaming and jumping up and down, "HOP, YOU LITTLE PLUMBER, HOP! Oh Mario, if only I could control everybody else like I control you. NOW GET ON THE DRAGON THING! HOP! HOP! HOP!"

"What's a plumber?" Evan asked Hermione before messing up his hair like somebody else she knew. But he just didn't like it tidy, not just to look nice for girls. She had actually kissed him on the cheek and he screamed and rubbed it off, all the while screaming about cooties and nargels and girl germs. Everybody had gone into a laughing fight, except for Phillip who thought it was "Serious chizz."

"Yeah, I've been wondering that," Blaise said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"It's a person who fixes pipes," Hermione answered, pursing her lips, "Blaise…does Mario even come on X-Box?"

"I dunno. But I made it come on X-Box," Blaise smiled.

"You break it, you buy it," she told him before grabbing Evan and Kennedy's hands, "Come on, guys. We still need to get the movie and Alicia wants some hair dye."

"Alright Hermione," Kennedy said politely while Evan pouted, "Goodbye Blaise! Thanks for finding us!"

"Bye Kiddo!" Blaise said, still watching the screen. He gave a one handed wave at her.

Draco stared at his friend as if he were talking in a different language before repeating, "Kiddo?"

"She's cute. You can't deny it."

Draco smirked as he leaned against the wall of video games, "You also think her sister is cute."

In one swift motion, Blaise's fist hit his arm with as much force as he could muster. Which was enough to cause pain.

"Oooowwwww!" Draco whined, rubbing his arm. Blaise smirked evilly as he continued to watch Mario ride on Yoshi.

Draco glowered at him before kicking him in the shin. Blaise yelped and dropped the controller, where it broke into a million pieces.

Draco and Blaise looked at the mess with open mouths, "Oh crap."

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Alicia! We got your hair dye!" Hermione said, holding up a plastic bag. Alicia walked down the stairs in a neon pink tunic dress with a thin white belt tied around her waist. She had on transparent white leggings and hot pink flats. She grinned as she took the pink hair dye from her cousin before grabbing her arm and towing her upstairs. Hermione complained and asked if she had lost her mind, but Alicia stayed silent.

"So…Hermione's not going to watch the movie with us?" Kennedy asked, looking up at Draco then Daniel.

"Alicia's busy," Daniel answered.

"What's that got to do with Hermione?" Evan asked.

"Plenty," was all Daniel said on the matter, "Now, come and 'be our guest!'" He bowed, holding the DVD in one hand.

"Yaaaaaay!" Kennedy cheered while Evan shrugged with one arm. Draco rolled his eyes before heading upstairs to get his book. When he opened it up, words appeared on the page, in the shape of a poem.

_I am not the kind of girl_

_Who should be rudely barging in _

_on a white veil occasion_

_But you are not the kind of boy_

_Who should be marrying the wrong girl_

_I sneak in and see your friends_

_And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel-_

_Oh, hello Draco. Did you enjoy the song?_

_It was a song?_ Draco asked.

_Oh yes. But it's a song from the future, I'm afraid, so you'll have to wait a while to hear it. Books can't sing you know._

_Right. Of course they can't._

_So, what brings you to my pages?_

_No reason_, he actually shrugged, _Just…bored._

_Ah. I hear that Kennedy and Evan are going to watch Beauty and the Beast?_

_Yes…_

_Can I __**please**__ listen to it? Please? I've wanted to see it since forever!_

_Uhhhh…._

_Oh come __**on**__, I'm a book – I can't get Netflix! Please?_

_I…guess…_he frowned as he took the book downstairs to let the book listen to the movie. He sat on the couch next to Kennedy and opened the book up on his lap. Kenned looked over to the book pages before looking up at smiling at Draco, then giving her attentions back to the movie.

"ALICIA MARIDEEN GRANGER, I WILL KILL YOU!" a loud scream came from upstairs as hurried thumping was heard on the staircase.

"Uh-oh," Daniel muttered, looking at his brother, "She used her middle name."

"She's dead," Phillip said, examining his still-pink hair, "Can I have her room once we de-girlify it?"

"It will take a few weeks for it to-" Alicia told her.

"BLUE? NEON? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?"

"Actually, you're right."

"I am?" Hermione's voice portrayed shock.

"Yes. Red and gold would have gone _much_ better."

Hermione gave a loud shriek before the two girls came running into the room. Alicia dove straight for Kennedy before grabbing the little girl and holding her up like a shield.

"You wouldn't hurt an innocent child, would you?" Alicia asked worriedly, hiding her face behind Kennedy's back.

"If you're talking about yourself then yes – I would. And _am_," Hermione growled.

Draco took a double-take at her outfit. She had on a neon blue tank top, a black skinny belt at her hips, white flare jeans with white boots.

"Rowena," he muttered to her as he pretended to read.

She looked over at him and he could feel her glaring into his mind.

She smirked at him before mouthing, "Ferret," at him. It was his turn to glare at her. Luna stood up, touched her shoulder for a few seconds, then sat back down.

"What the - ?" Hermione asked as she tried to see what she had done, "Is that a tattoo?"

"Yes," Luna said, "But it washes off."

"I'm going to stand in the shower and never come out," Hermione said as she started to walk away, "Seeing as everything you people ever do to me seems to wash off."

"Relax, Mione. It's just a little G. N. O!" Alicia beamed, putting Kennedy down and following her cousin.

"A little what?" Draco asked, turning his head around to look at them.

"G. N. O. Girls' Night Out," Alicia told him, "Come on. You're so moody. It's just what you need!"

"What I need is world peace. Maybe then you'll quit bugging the cra-crud," Hermione's eyes darted over to Kennedy and Evan, "Out of me. Take Draco instead, please."

Alicia and Luna looked between each other before smiling, "Okay!"

"What?" Draco stood up and whirled around, "I'm not a girl, Granger!"

Hermione smirked, "You worry about your hair enough to _be_ a girl."

"Joooooiiiinnnnn uuuuuuussssss," Alicia groaned, "Jooooiiiiinnnn uuuuusss!"

"No!" Draco insisted.

"Either them or Belle, take your pick," Hermione smirked. Belle was now singing on the TV and Alicia and Luna were in the begging position– Luna was trying anyway.

**

* * *

**

Apartment Building B

"I hate girls," Draco muttered as he leaned against a wall at a party.

"Oh shut up, you do not," Alicia scolded.

"And we the only reason she allowed you to come was because she wanted to talk to you privately," Luna said, "In that case, I think I'll go over and stand in a corner." Luna then walked off, leaving Alicia and Draco to themselves.

"Odd," Alicia said to herself before shaking her head, "Anyway – what's up?"

"What's up? Luna just said that you wanted to talk to me privately, and then you say 'What's up?'" Draco looked at her as if she were nuts.

"Yup!" she said happily, "But, really, I'm just trying to see WHAT THE FREAK IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

"You had me…then you lost me," he admitted, now looking at her as if she were Snape in a dress again.

"Oh _come on_," Alicia growled, "You like her, she likes you, get together before I turn blue!"

"Excuse me? I like who?" he was now convinced that she was nuts.

Alicia started jumping up and down, throwing a silent tantrum, before glaring at him and saying through gritted teeth, "_Her-my-own-knee!_"

"_What?_ Are you off your rocker?" he exclaimed.

"No! Are _YOU?_ You totally effin' like her! GET TOGETHER BEFORE I EXPLODE!"

"I do _not_ like her!"

Alicia growled again, "You stare at her funny everyday at breakfast, both of you have this funny banter thing going on, and every time you think one of us isn't listening, you talk nicely to each other. YOU EFFIN' LIKE HER!"

"Well…I…I don't!"

Alicia suddenly grinned before saying, "You're blushing, Draco."

"I am not," he frowned at her.

Her grin got bigger, "You know it too!"

"Know what? That I'm blushing – which I'm not! – or that I like Granger – which I _don't_!"

"Both," she smirked before walking into the crowd of people. Draco growled in frustration before going outside to stand on the sidewalk.

"I don't like Granger," he frowned, "There's no possible way that I could like Mione like that." He paused for a second before his eyes got wide and he groaned, "I just called her 'Mione'! What is _wrong_ with me? Ever since I got to that house, I've…I…I'm not…am I?"

"You sound crazy whenever you stand alone on a sidewalk and talk to yourself, you know," Luna said from the steps that lead up to the apartment building. Draco screamed and jumped around to face her before looking like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.

"You didn't…hear any of that…did you?" he grinned sheepishly.

"Oh yes, I heard all of it. But that's not why I came out here to talk to you."

"It's not?" he asked.

"No. I was talking to a very odd boy whenever I was in a corner. He told me that he believed in spirits and demons and such. I think I know what's wrong with your book, Draco."

"What?"

"I think it's haunted."

**

* * *

**

Granger House

"Bye Hermione. Thanks for taking care of them," Luna smiled as she got a snoring Evan into the backseat of a convertible. He twitched and drool started to come out of his mouth.

"Oh, it was fine. I really wish you didn't have to go, Luna. It was great seeing you again," Hermione smiled as Draco stood nervously behind her.

"Same here. Bye Draco, they kept saying how much fun they had with you. You know, you're not as bad as everybody at school says you are," Luna told them, "I'll see you at school." She then got in the car and waved at them before her step-mum drove away.

"Hermione, the book," Draco said hurriedly as he drug her into the house and up the stairs, "Luna thinks it might be haunted and it makes _sense_, her idea. I mean, it knows the future, it knows the past, it knows the present, what other creature could know all of it?"

"Haunted? You mean, a ghost has been haunting a book? Then who gave it to you?"

"The ghost. And, Hermione, I'm sorry to tell you this, but…I think the ghost has been…taking over your body at weird times. You space out! You act normally to seem as if nothing was wrong at all!"

"_WHAT?_ I'm being possessed? That's – I'm – I'm freaking out. This can't be happening! Why me?" Hermione said once Draco closed the door and locked it.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out," he got out the book and Hermione took a few steps back, looking at it as if it were something fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

"How?" she asked.

"We're gonna have the ghost contact us. Right now."

"Right now? Really? Can't it wait for a few…decades?" Hermione said warily as he opened the book and set it on the ground.

Draco stopped and grinned up at her, his face looking foreign in the candlelight, "Come on, Mione, you're in Gryffindor. Be brave."

She looked at him, watching him work as he spread different playing cards around the book in a circle and place two candles to his left and right. Something changed the way she looked at him, although he still seemed to be the same person.

"Sit there, across from me," Draco instructed, sitting down on the floor and crossing his legs. She robotically did the same and stared at him.

"Okay…uhhh…hold out your hand," he told her.

"Why?" she asked, holding out her right hand over the book.

He silently reached his hand out and grabbed it in his, looking down at his other palm as if it had words of wisdom written on it.

"You…need to calm down," he gave a laugh, "I can feel your heartbeat. Seriously, it won't work if you're scared."

"How do you know all of this anyway?" she asked, searching his face.

He sighed, "I was afraid you'd say that. Well, one of my mother's friends specializes in contacting the dead, and one day she taught me how."

"And you just remembered all of this? Why?"

"Well…I don't know," he shrugged, "I thought it would be useful at some point…with what's going on."

She cast her eyes down to her other hand, "I almost forgot about all of that…it seems like it's in another world."

He smiled, "Yes. I like it here. Your family likes me, for some strange reason."

Hermione laughed, "I know. I thought at least Daniel would be much more hostile to you."

"Daniel? He seems so nice."

"He hit Ron with a baseball bat, you know. Although, in Daniel's defense, Ron didn't know how to play the game anyway."

"Baseball? Anything like Quidditch?" Draco asked.

"Mmmm…kind of. It's really big in America," she shrugged.

"Oh…you're still tense," he smiled at her again and she twitched her mouth into a half-smile.

"How can you tell?"

"I have no idea. I just can."

"You said you could hear my heartbeat before," she smiled more now.

"Yeah…well," he smiled down at the candlestick, watching the flame flicker.

"We're smiling a lot, I just noticed," he said after a minute.

"Hmmm," she hummed as she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down from the inside, "You're a lot nicer without the rest of the Slytherins."

"Mmmm," Draco said, leaning his head back at the ceiling, "I know. You know, whenever I went into my own head, I questioned my friendship with most of them."

"That's deep," Hermione noted. They both laughed and unconsciously leaned towards each other, still holding hands.

"You remember whenever you were crying in the library and I talked about us being friends and stuff?" Draco asked, leaning forward towards her.

"Yeah?" she leaned towards him, strangely staring at his lips a lot.

He leaned towards her more, looking at her lips as well, "I…"

"Yes?" she asked, leaning closer to hear him.

"Wasn't…" he was whispering now.

"Mmhmm?" she hummed slightly.

"Really…" Their lips brushed very lightly together before the lights went out completely, putting them in utter darkness before they heard the girl's scream.

**

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**

BWAHAHAHAHA! I am evil. No, I don't hate you – I love you all! I just want to keep your attentions. Now, read on, faithful followers, or else I shall disappear again!

**Now, originally, I was gonna stop it at "I think it's haunted." And skip this author's note entirely…but then I got bored. And I really want to update!**

**Oh, and one more thing – didn't Alicia say that Hermione and Draco **_**didn't**_** like each other? XD Whoops!**


	8. Spirits and Soup

**I was looking through *burdge-bug's gallery on deviantART and decided to start typing. Although, this morning I was thinking about what to do with them next. Hmmm. Anyway!**

**

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**

Granger House, Spare Room

"Did you scream?" Draco asked in the darkness after he had jumped away from Hermione, his eyes darting around even though it was no use.

"No," Hermione said, feeling sick to her stomach. Suddenly, a very faint blue light sprang from the book and she clamped her free hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

The light drifted lazily over to an unlit candle and touched the wick gently before it erupted with light blue flame. The light drifted to the next one and did the same before continuing on to the next one. Once all of the candles were lit, the light flitted happily over to Hermione's left and touched gently onto the floor. Instead of having flames burst where it touched, it grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of Hermione. Then it started to develop features, such as a nose, mouth, eyes and long curly hair. Hands, legs, feet, torso. When it opened its eyes, it took a deep breath and crossed it's legs.

Or should I say she? She was pale blue, all of her; although in some places the color was darker or lighter. Then color started to swim into places, as if it were being poured over her. She had dark red hair that was almost brown, bright blue eyes that hadn't changed when the color came, and pink lips that broke into a smile when she faced Hermione.

"Hello Hermione," she beamed. Hermione merely blinked at her with large eyes. The foreign person flipped around to face Draco and smiled at him.

"Hi Draco! So nice to meet you in person!" she held out her hand as if she expected him to shake it, but Draco's free hand never made a move.

"Alright, be that way," she huffed before turning to Hermione again.

"So, you finally figured it out, have you?" she asked, smiling, "About time. It's great to see you again though."

"A-a-a-again?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Mione! Don't tell me you don't remember?" the thing pouted.

"No, no I don't!" Hermione said, "I don't know you!"

"Liar, liar, wand on fire," the spirit sang happily.

"Well then who are you?" Draco asked.

"Ah-ah-ah!" the spirit smiled, "Who _was_ I?"

"…What?" Draco asked after a moment.

"Oh dear," the spirit sighed, "I was afraid I'd have to do this. It _hurts_, you know, changing form. But, I'll do it for a moment." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she was a mass of swirling colors that shrunk to a smaller human size. When she opened her eyes and looked back at Hermione, she looked no older than five.

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth before she released them and held out a hand as if to touch her, "Margaret."

The little girl smiled before she changed back to a teenager, "Hullo Mione!"

"Y-You're dead!" was all Hermione could say.

Margaret looked at her dully for a moment before turning to Draco with a questioning look, "Are you _sure_ she's doing well at Hogwarts?"

"Well, I, Margaret!" Hermione stuttered, "You, you're – Why are you possessing me?"

"Oh that," Margaret said, turning back to her, "I got bored."

"You what? You possessed me because you were _bored_?"

"Yup!" Margaret smiled again.

"And you freaked me out because…?" Draco asked.

"I was bored and had a mission!" Margaret whirled around to face him. She wasn't even sitting, more like hovering slightly over the floor.

"What mission?" they asked together.

"Well if you'd _shut up_ I'd tell you!" she snapped. After a few seconds of silence she smiled.

"Great! Now, Draco, those two people in your book…" her face twisted for a second, "My book…this _thing-_" she kicked the book and it gave a pathetic flop, "They have names, yes, and these things have happened or will happen. You need to figure out who they are and when these actions have happened. Then you'll get a prize – goody goody!" Without waiting for an answer she whirled around to Hermione and her long hair would've slapped him in the face if she were alive. Instead, it merely passed through him and gave him a shudder.

"Mione," her voice was in a disappointed tone, "You must try. You have to try to act like you want to, no limitations, and I _know_ you have a soft spot for the way your hair has become."

Draco blinked, confused, but Hermione seemed to understand because she sighed.

"I miss you Mione," Margaret said after a second, giving a small smile.

Hermione returned the smile, "I miss you too. Margaret, what happened to you?"

Margaret looked down at her hands, which were glowing that faint blue shade, "I…I don't know. All I remember is waking up in the middle of the night, scared, and the next thing I knew I was looking at myself, asleep, on the floor." She gave Hermione a smile, "But don't worry about me, Mione. Worry about more important things."

Margaret took another deep breath and slapped her thighs before standing up, "Well…I better go."

"Go?" Hermione asked before jumping up, "But…you're a ghost! Where are you going to go?"

Margaret stared at her then turned to the still sitting Draco and giving him a small wink, "Oh, I dunno, I always wanted to go to France."

"France?" Draco repeated. Margaret gave a giggle before turning into the little blue light and shrinking. The blue flames on the candles turned back to yellow, and the lights overhead came on.

Draco stared up at Hermione as she stared down at him. They stayed that way for a while until Hermione's mom knocked on the door, "Miooooone, you in there?"

Hermione swallowed, "Yeah Mum!"

"Dinner's ready and Ginny and Ron came to visit!"

Hermione frowned at Draco for a minute, as if trying to remember who Ginny and Ron were before blinking a few times and assuring her mom that she'd be down in a few minutes.

Draco stood up, "What now?"

Hermione sighed, "Try to act normally and hope she doesn't get bored again?"

Draco gave a feeble laugh and followed her out the door.

**

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**

Granger House, Living Room

"Hi Hermione!" Ginny and Ron said once she entered the room.

"Hi guys," Hermione smiled before sitting down next to Ginny.

"Draco!" Phillip said, flopping on his back on the floor and waving his arms like noodles, "Have you ever had a DS?"

"A what?" Draco repeated as Alicia rolled her eyes.

"HERE! NOW!" Phillip demanded, his upper half shooting up and holding out a black box with a matching pen. Draco shrugged and sat down next to him as Phillip explained the ways of the DS.

"Okay, so, you know how Mum always hates how Dad plays with cars and stuff?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"Yes. Why?" Hermione asked.

"Mum's cleaning out Dad's stash," Ron said, "He keeps yanking at his hair and moaning 'Nooooo!' We were getting tired of it, so we came here."

"Our mum is the one that has the stash," Alicia said as she hung upside down from the couch, playing with her socked toes, "Although in her case it's with chocolate. We don't complain much though."

"I wouldn't either," Ron grinned.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Of course _you_ wouldn't."

Hermione and Ginny laughed while Ron asked, "What? What does that mean?"

"Oh, and I wanted to help you pack," Ginny said once the laughing died down.

Hermione stared at her blankly for a second before asking, "What?"

"Packing. For your month with that," she pointed at Draco.

"I heard that!" Draco said, although he was concentrating on the device Phillip had given him.

"Really? When am I going again?" Hermione asked.

"Uhhh, the day after tomorrow?" Ginny asked, arching an eyebrow at her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, fine, why?" she asked as Draco looked over his shoulder at her. She waved one hand slightly, assuring him that she wasn't being possessed.

"I dunno. I just thought you'd know," Ginny shrugged, "So can I help you pack or what?"

"Uhhh…sure," Hermione, Ginny and Alicia stood up and walked to her room, leaving Phillip, Draco and Ron alone.

"Soooo…" Ron said after a moment.

"Didn't think you'd want to go upstairs with them," Draco told him, hitting his head against the rug and trying to get Mario up on a floating ledge.

Phillip was looking intently at Ron, squinting now and again. Ron finally noticed this and asked, "What?"

"You look funny. No, no, don't hit me!" Phillip screamed, blocking his face, "I mean, you look different! You had a weird face on when you were talking to my sister, that's it!"

Ron paused, bringing down the arm with his pillow ammunition, then looking back at Phillip, Draco looking up at them.

"How?" Ron asked finally.

"I dunno! I'm twelve! Don't expect me to know stuff," Phillip frowned, took his DS from Draco, and sat there.

"Did I?" Ron asked, looking down at Draco.

"I was paying attention to the plumber, not your mug, Weasley," Draco said. Ron glared at him, trying to hold back his arm. He stopped and asked, "Wait, what's a plumber?"

Alicia swung her legs back and forth, hitting her cousin's bed repeatedly. Ginny and Hermione were talking as Hermione blindly tossed things into her suitcase, although Alicia was swiping the stuff she didn't approve of when she thought she wasn't looking.

"Ginny, quit worrying about me," Hermione told her, "I told you, he's changed."

"Yes, just like Fred and George are complete angels," Ginny rolled her eyes, "I don't care if he likes you or not, I just can't let you go into that house by yourself!"

"Oh come on, Ginny," Alicia said, jumping down off the bed, "Hermione can take care of herself. She's a big girl now, and can hit anybody when she needs to."

Ginny frowned then sighed, "You write to me if anything happens. And I mean _anything_."

"Yes, Mummy Ginny," Hermione rolled her eyes before climbing on top of her suitcase and sitting on it to zip it up.

**

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**

Granger House

"Alright, have you got everything? Do you want to take Crookshanks? Well, no, I don't think they'd appreciate you taking him. Well what about Speckles?" Patricia said as she fretted over her child.

"Mum, I'm fine," Hermione grunted as she tried to get Phillip off of her, "I think I have everything."

"You think? You _think_?" Patricia said, sounding slightly hysterical.

"Mum! I've got it!" Hermione said, finally prying Phillip away from her, who whined in protest. She sighed and smiled up at her mother before wrapping her arms around her neck and hugging her.

"I love you," Hermione said, pushing her nose into her mother's shoulder.

"Love you too, Mione," Patricia said before pulling back and kissing her forehead.

"We love you too, Mione," Daniel said, grabbing her and hugging her, Alicia and Phillip joining in also. Daniel and Phillip let go after a minute, but Alicia latched on.

"Take me with you!" Alicia said, "Please!"

"Alicia, go home," Hermione frowned, trying to pry her fingers away from each other.

"No! I wanna see the world! I wanna, I wanna, I wannaaaaa…aaaaah," Alicia frowned as she continued to hug her cousin, "Do…stuff! TAKE ME WITH YOU!"

"ALICIA, LEGGO BEFORE I TAKE SCISSORS TO YOUR HAIR AGAIN!" Hermione finally screamed. Alicia let go with an eep and flew over behind Draco to glare at her over his shoulder.

"You, Hermione Granger, are a terrible person," Alicia frowned.

"I am not and you know it," Hermione grinned.

"So modest too," Draco rolled his eyes.

"At least I don't," Hermione started before the doorbell rang.

"Please be your mom, please be your mom, please be your mom," Alicia and Draco chanted. Patricia walked over and opened the door.

"IN YO' FACE!" Alicia said happily, jumping up and beaming.

"Hello Hermione," Narcissa smiled as she shook Hermione's hand, "I've heard many things about you, all good."

"Uhhh, hello and thank you," Hermione blushed slightly.

"Hello, you must be Narcissa, Draco's mother," Patricia smiled.

"Ahh, yes. You must be…?" Narcissa prompted, shaking her hand as well.

"Patricia Granger. Mione, are you _sure_ – "

"-yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"One hundred percent certain?"

"Mum!" Hermione said before hugging her again, "I'll see you in a month, okay?"

"Or less, depending on Draco's behavior," Blaise grinned from the doorway.

"You!" Draco frowned, "What're you doing here?"

"Now, now," Blaise 'tsk'ed, "That's no way to treat your friends, Draco. And I'm here because I can be, so there. Hey Hermione."

"Hi Blaise," Hermione smiled.

"You ready to spend a month with us terrible Slyth-cream, chicken, corn," Blaise said nervously, finally noticing the worried looks on Narcissa, Draco, Hermione and Patricia, "Soup, Slyth Soup, yup."

"…Alright," Phillip said, giving his sister a meaningful look as Draco erupted into a fit of silent giggles.

"Soup?" Draco mouthed to him.

"Shut up," Blaise mouthed back, blushing.

"Alright, into the car everyone!" Narcissa said, motioning the children out the door, "Thank you so much for taking car of Draco and keeping him out of trouble."

"He was great. Bye Mione, bye Draco!" Patricia said as everybody loaded into a foreign car.

"BYE HERMIONE! BYE DRACO!" Alicia, Daniel and Phillip shouted, waving their arms over their heads.

"How come they didn't say bye to me?" Blaise pouted as he sat in between Hermione and Draco.

"Soup? Slyth Soup?" Hermione asked him once they turned away from the street.

"I don't know, I'm hungry!" Blaise frowned as he slumped lower in the seat.

"You're always hungry," Draco noted, watching as the trees zoomed by.

"So?" Blaise said.

"Mum, where'd you get the car?" Draco asked suddenly.

"It's a Ministry car. I didn't think Apparating would be a good idea – especially with Blaise," Narcissa said in the passenger seat.

"Yeah, about Blaise," Draco said, pretending he wasn't there, "How long is he staying with us?"

"He's just going to be here during the day."

"Oh, I see what you did there," Blaise said, squinting at Draco and wagging a finger at him, "You ignored me. Now I shall ignore you. See how you like it!"

He then whirled around and grinned at Hermione, who looked up expectantly at him.

"We're going to ignore Draco," he beamed.

"Great, I've been looking for an excuse to," Hermione said. Draco shot her a look behind Blaise's back, but she just smiled and returned to talking to him.

"We are going to have _fun_, and we will _ignore_ him, and he's going to be so _jealous_!" Blaise said happily.

"Oh yes. And we'll discover that Crumple Horned Snorkacks exist," Draco drawled.

"SHHH, I AM IGNORING YOU! Hermione, why are you laughing?" Blaise said.

**

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**

WOOO BLAISE! He's awesome. And I don't even know about the soup part, 'cause I'm not hungry and I don't like soup….


	9. Soda Hunting

"I am _telling_ you, there is no _way_ you could've done that without cheating!" Blaise exclaimed, glaring at Draco over the chessboard.

"You're blind, Zabini, that was a completely valid move," Draco glared back.

"No it wasn't!" Hermione called, "You're playing checkers!"

"HA!" Blaise cheered, standing up and accidentally bumping the table, "AHHH, MY SPLEEN!"

Draco sighed as he rested his head on his fist, "What happened to ignoring me? I missed that."

"Oh, right," Blaise said, holding his stomach before squinting and wagging his finger at him.

"What does that even mean?"

"He got it off a muggle movie," Hermione said, lowering the book down to grin at him.

"They're my indulgence," Blaise shrugged, "It had dragons and violent people. Good enough for me."

"Why have you started watching movies and going to Wal-Mart and stuff, Blaise?" Draco suddenly asked. Blaise looked down at his shoes, frowning at them.

"Well…my father never let me do that stuff when he was home, and now that he's in Azkaban," Blaise glanced over at Hermione, who was looking at her book but still listening, "I get to do stuff I want to. Hey, Hermione, what's a Pop Rock? I got some at that Mal-Wart store."

"Wal-Mart, Blaise," Hermione corrected, "And it's a candy. You put it in your mouth and they start to pop. It's really cool if you get a soda too, they start foaming."

Blaise thought about this before looking over at Draco and grinning, "You got any 'soda'?"

"I don't even know what that is, why would I have any?" Draco asked, "And it's not a good idea."

"Oh come on, spoil-sport!" Blaise said, "Let's go into Diagon Alley and see if they have 'soda'!"

"Uhhh, Blaise, I don't think – " Hermione started before he turned and pouted at her. She sighed and put the book down, "Well it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Don't fall for it! Just don't!" Draco advised, "And I don't know who you're going to get to take you to Dia-"

"Hermione, Draco, Blaise, we're going to Diagon Alley! I lost the Invisible Book of Invisibility again, I need a new one!" Narcissa called.

"Oh shut up," Draco frowned as he stood up and glared at a grinning Hermione and Blaise.

**

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**

Diagon Alley

"Alright, I'll meet up with you at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Narcissa said, "Have fun trying to hunt down that 'soda'!"

"Why are we going to Fred and George's shop?" Hermione asked.

Draco shrugged, "I dunno, Mother said that she had been meaning to go in there. Blaise, no, don't touch that!"

"But Dracooooo," Blaise whined, "It's shiiiinyyyy!" He pointed at a necklace that was on a hook at a table, where the teenage girl behind it was completely oblivious to them.

"I don't care," Draco frowned, "We're looking for that soda stuff. What's it look like, Mione?"

"Well, it's just – did you just call me Mione?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco as if he had spouted an extra eye.

"Draco's got a girlfriend, Draco's got a girlfriend, Draco's got a girlfriend!" Blaise started singing, swinging his arms around himself.

"Shut up, I've been surrounded by people who call her Mione for a month! It slipped!" Draco snapped at him, "And she's _not_ my girlfriend."

"Well apparently not," Blaise said, "She's still gagging."

Draco blinked then turned around and frowned at her, "Oh come off it, I'm sure it wouldn't kill you if you actually dated me."

"Yes it would!" Blaise grinned.

"Shut up, you're not helping!"

"Helping what? You asking her out?" he gave the same small, secretive grin he had used a while ago before trying to contain his laughter.

"No," he was giving him a very dirty look, "Making her stop gagging."

"Bad images. Very bad images. Ron barfing slugs images," Hermione shuddered. Blaise finally started laughing extremely loudly so that the teenage girl actually looked up from her magazine and gave him a weird look.

"Can I help you?" she asked him once he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

"Actually, yes, I would like this little bobble," Blaise pointed at the necklace he noticed earlier. She stood up and took it from off it's hook, stuffing it in a bag and telling him how much it cost. Hermione walked off, telling them that she'd catch up with them later.

"Alright, so," Blaise said, an air of seriousness in his tone, "What is your deal?"

"My deal? Who said I have a deal? I don't have a deal," Draco frowned.

Blaise stared at him blankly before hitting him upside the head, "Liar!"

"What?" Draco asked, rubbing his head.

"Mione? Girlfriend? Remember in the dorm?" Blaise said, "It's obvious that something happened that you aren't telling me about. You were way too defensive when I started the whole girlfriend thing." He took a huge breath intake before grabbing onto Draco's shoulders, "No! Say it isn't so!"

"Say what isn't so?" Draco asked, trying to get him off, "What are you talking about you freakin' nutter?"

"You – are – going – to – die. Pansy or your mum or Hermione is going to kill you. Possibly in that order," Blaise said, his hand on his chin, "Well, Hermione might only do it if she realizes that you've been slipping her some potion."

"_What the bloody hell are you talking about?_" Draco said through gritted teeth.

"You!" Blaise drew back and pointed a finger at him, "How _dare_ you!"

"What?" Draco asked, looking around at the curious faces of pedestrians.

"We made a _pact_!" he sputtered and Draco stopped before groaning.

"That stupid thing? And you think that Granger and I –"

"Rule Eighty-Three, section five, subsection two, underneath 'Girlfriends'," Blaise said, "We will only have a serious relationship with a girl if she is hot, smart, funny, or completely epic in every single freaking way."

"We made that when we were eleven," Draco started.

"_And you signed it!_" Blaise hissed, "So don't get my hopes up or else I'll – I'll – _I'll do it!_"

Draco gasped now and they were starting to get an audience, "You wouldn't!"

Blaise looked upset as he said, "Yes, I would, Draco."

"FREAKS!" a familiar voice said from the crowd.

"Oh great, the Weasleys are here," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Malfoy," Ginny frowned before waving the crowd away, "It's okay, I'm sure they act like this all the time!"

"What do you want?" Draco drawled.

"Do you know where 'soda' is?" Blaise asked.

"Umm…what's soda?" Ginny asked.

"I dunno. Mione's looking for it. I think I'll go help her. OH MIONE!" Blaise sang, skipping off to go find her.

"Anyway…what was that all about?" she asked, looking up at Draco.

He shrugged, "Blaise is…unique, you could say. He got it into his head that something happened between Hermione and I."

"Did something happen?" her eyebrow arched very high on her head.

He didn't want to think about the candles, the darkness, the way they had been extremely close to actually kissing.

"Nothing happened," he frowned, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go control my idiot. Blaise! Step away from the dog!"

**

* * *

**

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

"Wow," the Malfoys and Blaise chorused, looking up at the store. Hermione smiled and nodded, looking around also.

"They did a pretty good job, cleaning it up after the Blehburry Incident."

"Hermione!" the twins chorused, each putting an arm around her, "Glad you could make it!"

"Almost didn't recognize you without your bushy hair," George said, ruffling her hair and grinning at her.

"'Course we're not complaining that it's gone," Fred shrugged as she glared at him.

"Fred, George, you remember Malfoy and Zabini, right? And Draco's mother, Narcissa?" Hermione said warily, watching as the twins looked dully at them.

"Be nice," Hermione hissed so only they could hear.

"Fine," Fred muttered before brightening, "Welcome to our shop! What're you looking for now, exactly?"

"We've got love potions, fireworks, toy wands and brooms, the like," George shrugged.

"We're just looking," Narcissa smiled, "I love your shop though. Very unique."

"Thank you," Fred grinned, "Took a lot of money to come to this."

"And clean up," George rolled his eyes, "Blue, blue, everywhere, as far as the eye could see."

"Hey," Fred turned to him, glaring and pointing at him, "For the last time, that wasn't my fault!"

"Yes, it was," George said smugly, "Tell 'im, Mione."

"Umm, actually, if memory serves correct," Hermione pursed her lips, "Ron tripped over a toy broom and knocked Harry and Ginny over into the Blehburry."

"Ron?" the twins chorused.

"That little bug!" Fred said.

"When we get a-hold of him," George vowed, shaking his fist.

"Anyway," Blaise said, "Cool. Really, really cool. You know what soda is?"

"Diet or regular?" Fred asked.

"You have some?" Blaise said excitedly.

"What? No. We just know what it is," George shrugged.

"Darn it!" Blaise shouted.

"Do you even remember why you want it?" Draco asked.

"No, but I remember that it was for something cool!" he sniffed, pouting.

"Blaise, Sweetie, remind me to tell your mum that you don't need any more caffeine for a while," Narcissa said, looking over at Hermione and smiling slightly.

"But…I don't drink coffee," Blaise's eyebrows furrowed, "My mum won't let me."

"Whaaaaat?" Draco asked, his eyes wide, "All this time, you haven't been hopped up on caffeine?"

"No…Why? Have _you_ been hopped up on caffeine? Wait a second, if you have been, then without coffee you'd be like…a zombie. That'd be cooool! LAY OFF THE COFFEE, DRACO!"

"We're _deeeaaaad_," Draco whispered, "There's nothing to freakin' _fix!" _

Hermione stifled a laugh before looking up at the twins, who were looking curiously at her.

"What?" she practically snapped.

"Nothing, just…nothing," George said while Fred was on the verge of poking her. He finally gave in and did so, while she jumped back and gave him a funny look.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"What's wrong with _you?_" Fred asked, pursing his lips and squinting at her.

"What's wrong with _you?_" she countered.

"What's wrong with me is that I don't know what's wrong with you!" he said.

"What's wrong with me is that you keep asking me what's wrong with me!"

"Wait…what?" Blaise asked.

"I've learned their language," she shrugged as Fred scratched his head. "Extremely useful."

Narcissa laughed behind her hand before trying to make it sound like a cough. Draco looked at her before smiling slightly and glancing back over at Hermione as George patted his brother's back sympathetically. She was rolling her eyes and shaking her head as Fred tried to figure out a comeback.

"Wait, I got one!" Fred said, grinning triumphantly and pointing up at the sky. He then lost the grin and gasped, "I lost it! I forgot my genius and witty comment!"

"Can't lose what you never had, Mate," George grinned as Fred glared at him. "Anyway, Mione, Malfoys, Zabini, we're terribly sorry, but we spy with our little eye something that looks like delinquents." He grabbed his brother and walked off as Fred tried to remember.

"Well, I don't really see anything in here that I need this second," Narcissa said before tapping her wand to her mouth slightly, "Well, maybe…no, no, I think I'm well off. Everyone ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Hermione said. Draco rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but quickly stopped with a look from his mother.

"Yes, Mother," Draco said dully.

"I guess. What'd I come here for anyway?" Blaise wondered. This brought groans from Hermione and Draco and a sigh from Narcissa.

**

* * *

**

Malfoy Manor

Narcissa turned the corner into the living room and looked up to be surprised as the three teenagers napped on the couch. Blaise was sprawled on one half of the sectional, his mouth hanging open where snorts could erupt. Draco looked as if he was sunbathing, lying down on his back with one knee propped up in the air, an arm lying above his head into curly brown hair. Hermione was curled up, holding a pillow to her head as she slept. She sighed a few times, almost opening her eyes before falling back into slumber.

Narcissa smiled slightly as a little girl with curly black hair walked in. She had big, brown eyes and was wearing a white button-up shirt underneath a pale green overall dress. The little girl frowned slightly at the sight of Hermione before looking up at Narcissa.

"Who's she?" she asked.

"That's Hermione Granger," Narcissa whispered, crouching down to her level. "She's very nice."

"Oh."

"Madge, I told you to stay with me," a woman said, walking up behind Narcissa. She stopped when she saw the teenagers and the corner of her mouth twitched a little. She had black hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, wearing a business suit and a silver charm bracelet.

"Sorry, Mummy," the little girl, Madge, said.

"It's alright. Go wake up your brother, will you? We need to leave," the woman said.

"Bad idea, Natalie," Narcissa smiled as she stood up and Madge walked further into the room. She jumped up on the couch next to Blaise and got really close to his face before screaming, "WAKE UP!"

Blaise and Draco both screamed as Blaise jumped, falling off the couch. Draco merely bolted into a sitting position and Hermione opened her eyes and frowned before closing them again.

"Madge!" Blaise yelled, frowning up at her, "I told you not to wake me up like that again!" Madge merely giggled and stood up to jump up and down on her toes.

"Hey, Blaise, guess what next Saturday is?" Madge said with a grin.

Blaise sighed, "I already know next Saturday's your birthday, Kiddo. I was _there_. I _remember_ what _day_ and _month_ and _year_ you were _born_."

"Do you know the _time?_" she said before giggling at the look she received.

"Hey, Madge, quiet down, will you? Hermione's still asleep," Draco said, rubbing his eye.

"Make me!" Madge said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm not asleep, anyway. Not with all of this screaming," Hermione said, clutching her pillow tighter.

Draco ignored her and grinned at Madge, "I can so make you." He then lunged towards her, poking her in the ribs and stomach a few times as she laughed and squealed.

"Dracoooo!" she wailed, "Stoooooop!" Natalie shook her head towards the ceiling while Narcissa smiled slightly. Hermione sat up and looked on in disbelief.

"Who won?" Draco asked as he continued tickling her.

"Y-y-you did!" she laughed, "Now stoooop!"

He pulled back and nodded, "Good, there's hope for you yet. Unlike Blaise…"

"Oh shut it, Draco, and get some manners while you're at it," Hermione said before Blaise could speak, sinking back down into her pillow.

"Amen!" Narcissa smiled.

"Mother!" Draco said in horror as Hermione snickered into her pillow.

"Hey, you're funny," Madge noticed, "Like, actually funny. I don't have to fake-laugh at your jokes. I like you."

"Ummm…alright," Hermione said, looking up at her before smiling, "Thank you…?" Madge then bounced over to her side of the couch and stared at her intently.

"Hey, Kid, leave Mione alone," Blaise said, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"It's fine," Hermione said, sitting up and smiling at her, "I like little kids."

"I'm not little!" Madge cried.

"Oh, alright, I'm sorry," Hermione said, "I didn't know."

Madge nodded, like this was the response she wanted, before looking over at Draco, "_That's_ how you're supposed to do it."

"Hey, you're little to me," Draco shrugged, "Just because Granger's about your size – ow! Quit flinging stuff at me, Hermione! Ow, ow, ow!" He was being pelted by pillows, Madge and Blaise cackling.

"Are you going to be _nice_?" she asked, holding a pillow above her head with an eyebrow arched.

"I'm always nice – ow, ow, okay, okay, I'll be nice!" he said.

"Good, Draco, you're learning," Hermione smiled before leaning over the side of the couch and picking up the pillows that had fallen, one by one. Draco just leaned into the corner and grumbled something unintelligible.

Natalie smiled over at Narcissa before clapping her hands, "Alright, Blaise, Madge, we need to go."

"But Muuuuuum," they whined together as she sighed.

"I wanna stay with Hermiiiiiiiiooooonneeeeee," Blaise pouted.

"I wanna torture Dracoooooo," Madge cried a fake tear.

"And vise veeeerrrrsaaaaaa," Blaise said.

"Home, now," Natalie frowned as the two sighed and Blaise picked his little sister up.

"Bye guys, see you later!" he said as he walked out into the hall before stopping. "I forgot where the front door was…."

"Ivory," Narcissa called softly. A house elf popped into the room, looking up at her expectantly. Hermione bit her lip and cast her eyes downward.

"Yes Missus?" she asked.

Narcissa smiled and leaned down a little, "Would you please show the Zabinis to the front door? This house can be a little confusing."

"Yes Missus," Ivory squeaked before bobbing over to Blaise.

"Bye Hermione! And Draco, I guess," Blaise said.

"Bye," Hermione said quietly as she stood up to rearrange the pillows to their original positions.

"Good riddance!" Draco said with a teasing air.

"Would Master Malfoy and Miss Granger like something?" Ivory asked as she returned to the room.

"No thank you," Hermione said before smiling slightly at her and walking out of the room.

"What's with her?" Draco asked, mostly to himself.

"Umm," Ivory said timidly, "Miss is upset that your father isn't here. Miss thinks that he is gone because of Miss."

"What?" Draco asked, "Why would she think that?"

Ivory shuffled her feet, "Miss is not a pureblood…Ivory heard Miss saying all of this to herself in her room last night, but Ivory was there because Ivory heard her name. Should…should Ivory punish herself?"

"No, don't do that," Draco said, standing up, "You haven't done anything wrong. Now, I um…"

"Need to go talk to Miss?" she squeaked a suggestion.

"Yes, thank you," he nodded before jogging out of the room.

Ivory sighed, looking down at the carpet and smiling slightly, "Miss Hermione likes Ivory, Miss says. Miss Hermione likes Master Draco, Miss says."

Another house elf walked into the room, frowning at Ivory.

"Ivory, has you been listening to Miss Hermione's dream-sayings?" he asked.

"Yes, but only because Ivory heard Miss Hermione say Ivory's name," Ivory said defensively.

He sighed before walking over to the couch and looking intently at it before screaming, "There be nothings to fix! Geordie say'd that pillows has been everywhere! Nothings!"

"Miss Hermione is very nice, Bort," Ivory beamed.

Bort looked as if he was going to freak out, but he sighed and looked over at Ivory. He nodded slightly and Ivory smirked.

"Listen to Ivory more often, Bort," Narcissa said from the doorway, scaring both of the house elves. They gaped at her before she smiled and walked away.

"…Was that an order?" Bort asked, confused. Ivory shrugged.


	10. The Family Tree

**I've just got to let you know that I'm shocked that this is so popular. We're at 99 reviews at the moment, and I'm so touched at all of the reviews you give me. So, in a way – I LAAAV YOU. :3**

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* * *

**

Malfoy Manor

"Hermione?" Draco knocked on the door slightly, "Can I come in?"

"No," Hermione said at once. He paused for a moment before opening the door, walking in the room and closing it behind him. She gaped at him, looking a tad angry.

"I thought I just told you that you couldn't come in?" she asked.

"Yes but…I'm me," he said, as if it explained everything. In a way, it did.

"What if I had been changing?" she frowned.

He looked intently at her, then tilted his head, and had one eye close, then the other, and finally made his eye twitch. She threw a pillow at him half-heartedly.

"What do you want?" she asked. He walked over and sat down next to her and she glared at him slightly. She rolled her eyes and ignored it for a moment.

"What's wrong with you? What's this about how you think it's your fault that my father's not here?" Draco asked.

"How did you kn-?"

"I have my resources," he said quickly, "But the point is, it's not your fault, Hermione."

She dropped her gaze, "How do you know? Your father hates…"

"Muggle-borns? Half-bloods? Muggles? Yes. And it's one of the many things I hate about him. And me…whenever I spent a month with your family, I began to realize how much you care about one another," he said, "How you just want to see each other happy and well cared for. You know what my family does?"

"What?" she asked.

"Absolutely none of that. My mother is the only one in my family who talks to me and seems to enjoy it."

"Oh come on, your father must love you," Hermione told him.

He shrugged, "Maybe, or maybe he cares very little about me. We'll never know. Hermione, he raised me to be that little arrogant prick back at Hogwarts. Believe me, I saw enough to label myself that when I went into my thoughts. I only act like that because I think that's what I'm supposed to do."

"You're nice when you want to be," Hermione told him, "Did you see the way you acted with Madge? You're actually decent with children, Draco, although it could be fixed a little."

"Well, yeah, but she's Blaise's little sister. If she was just some random little girl I was to watch out for, I'd – "

"Remember Kennedy?" Hermione said suddenly, interrupting him.

He stopped before shaking his head, "That's beyond the point."

"What _is_ the point?" Hermione pressed, leaning closer to him.

"The point is that if my father wants to be the racist, immature, conceited jerk that he is, then that's his problem. Hermione, I hate to say it, but you're the smartest person I've ever met. I don't know _what_ I had been thinking whenever I did those horrible things to you."

"What's all of this?" she said with a slight smile, "You…you're appearing as though you've got a heart, Tin Man."

He smiled and rolled his eyes, "Yes, Miss Granger, I went to that blubbering idiot who calls himself a Wizard and asked for a heart. Just for you."

She blushed slightly before sighing, "Thank you, Draco. I was worried that I was the reason your father had left. Please believe me when I say that I don't ever want to tear families apart."

"Eh, he's not that special," Draco winked at her. She smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him down slightly to her.

"You are," she whispered to him. It was his turn to blush as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thanks," he whispered to her.

"DRACOOOOOO!" a woman's voice called. Draco winced and buried his face slightly in Hermione's hair, trying to disappear.

"Who's that?" Hermione asked, pulling back and blowing his cover.

"My aunt," Draco muttered.

"Draco! Hermione!" Narcissa yelled, "Silvia and Catrina are here!"

"Catrina, Catrina, Catrinaaaa…" Draco said, holding his chin in his hand, "I've heard it before, but where…?"

"You just said it was your aunt," Hermione frowned slightly, "So…?"

"Yeah, but Silvia's my aunt, and I don't have anybody named Catrina in my fam-oh! Silvia had a baby! Duh," he rolled his eyes, "I need to pay attention more. Come on." He grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her up of the bed, tugging her out the door.

"Ooooh, Draco, look at you!" Silvia said, immediately going over and pinching his face, knowing how much he hated it, "You're still so _cute!_"

"Aunt Sil, knock it off," Draco muttered. She grinned and hugged him. She turned to Hermione and tilted her head.

"Hello, I'm Silvia Hornsten. You are…?" she said, reaching her hand out.

"Hermione Granger," she said, taking her hand in her own and shaking it.

Silvia's mouth flew open, "_No._"

"Ummm…what?" Hermione asked.

"Oh my god, Narcissa! This is the super smart girl that beats Draco at tests at Hogwarts?" she turned to Narcissa and pointed at her, still holding her hand.

"Yes," Narcissa smiled slightly.

"Mother!" Draco frowned at her as she shrugged, bouncing a baby in her arms.

"_Thank you!_" Silvia hugged Hermione, "He used to be such an arrogant little snot! _You fixed it!_"

"Aunt Silvia!" Draco frowned.

Hermione laughed, "He's still an arrogant snot."

"Hey!"

"Oh, yes, but he used to be so much worse!" Silvia said, ignoring him.

"I was not!"

"Oh yes you were, now hush – I'm talking to Hermione," Silvia frowned at him. "Now, Hermione, what do your parents do?"

"They're dentists."

"…Whaaa?"

"Umm…" Hermione looked down at her shoes, "They're Muggles."

Silvia was silent before saying, "Even the more reason to _thank you_."

"What?" Draco and Hermione said together.

"I mean, can you imagine growing up learning one thing, then the next thing you know you have to learn something else entirely? And you didn't even get that much time to prepare! Five years would make the most sense, but you had a summer! And then you're the smartest girl in school!" she grabbed Hermione by the shoulders, "What _is_ your secret?"

"Ummm…I read…a lot," her eyebrows came down a bit. Didn't Malfoys hate Muggle-born and half-bloods?

Narcissa stepped forward, holding the baby out to Draco, "Draco, meet your cousin, Catrina."

Draco took the baby and looked down at her. She opened her eyes and studied him before gurgling, reaching a hand up and waving it up at him. He smiled slightly, "She's cute."

"Wait," Silvia spread her hands out, "I thought you two hated each other. Hmm. Who would have thought that you would ever date?"

"_What_?" Draco and Hermione said together, Narcissa lurching forward with her arms underneath Draco's, ready to catch the baby in case he dropped her.

"N-no, Aunt Sil, we're not dating," Draco frowned as Hermione blushed.

"Oh? Well then why's she staying here?"

"Why don't you two explain that one?" Narcissa said, "You never did explain it to me."

Draco sighed and sat down on the couch, "Okay. Ummm…Hermione?"

"Well," she put her index fingers together, staring intently at them, "Let's see. Snape had paired us up in Potions, and we had to create a…what was it again?"

"Umm…" he searched the top of his head, "A shrinking potion."

"Oh yeah. Anyway, we didn't talk at all and it blew up in our faces. Literally. Dumbledore suggested that we spend time with each other during the summer or during school…and detention."

"Ooooohhh," Silvia nodded, "I see. If I was in that position, I'd ignore the other person completely."

"Thank you," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Well, we couldn't, exactly. My cousins were there the month he was, and…yeah," Hermione shrugged.

"Alicia sure is something, huh?"

"I know," Hermione frowned, "She needs to calm down a few degrees."

"A few?"

She laughed slightly as Draco shifted his arms.

"Here Mione, you hold her. I keep thinking I'm going to drop her," he said. Hermione faltered.

"Oh come on," he arched an eyebrow, "Didn't you tell Madge that you liked little kids?"

"Well, yes, but…she looks fragile," Hermione admitted.

"Oh come on," Silvia said, "Just sit down and hold her then. Come on, please?"

She nodded and reached forward, taking the baby gently out of Draco's arms and sitting down next to him. Catrina gurgled and reached up, grabbing onto a piece of her hair and giving a good yank.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Hermione said, tilting her head along with her hair. Draco laughed and reached over, unhinging the hair from the tiny fist, only to get his finger stuck.

"Catrina, leggo," Draco 'frowned', although he was trying not to smile. "Come on, I need that."

Catrina gurgled before sticking his finger in her mouth, drooling all over it. Draco shuddered as Hermione, his mother and his aunt laughed.

"Draco Malfoy – fifteen years old. Catrina Hornsten – barely a year. Guess who won?" Silvia grinned.

"Ewwww," Draco whispered, still trying to get his finger away, but Catrina kept a firm grip.

Hermione smiled and poked the baby gently in her stomach a few times. Catrina released his finger and gave a peal of laughter as Draco quickly wiped the spit off on his pants.

"You three are so cute," Silvia finally concluded, "I mean, like, _really cute_."

Narcissa nodded in agreement, "Hermione, do you have any younger family members? You're good with babies."

"Umm…well, no, not really," Hermione pursed her lips, "I wouldn't even go near Phillip when he was a baby."

"Maybe you knew how much trouble he'd be when he grew up," Draco smirked. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Pffft, who cares? The maternal instincts kick in when you're around your age," Silvia said, "I remember how much Loran bugged Lucius and I when she turned that age. Merlin, how I used to hide from her. I used to hide in _the_ strangest places. Lucius would always blow my cover, the bug."

Narcissa chuckled, smiling, "Yes. Andy would do that too, it got to the point where I hid _in_ a tree." The air turned sour between the Malfoys, even Catrina noticed it. Hermione dropped her gaze to the floor, thinking about the sadistic woman that was Narcissa's older sister.

"I wish I had an older sibling," Hermione said finally, "Somebody to learn from."

"Oh no you don't," Silvia said, "They're bossy, aren't they Narcissa?"

"Oh yes," Narcissa nodded, "Even after you get older."

"And you don't want to be an older sister either," Silvia said, pointing her wand loosely at her, "My friend, Rosie, she actually pulled her hair out once in Hogwarts. Took a few weeks to grow back with some potion."

Hermione shrugged, "What about a middle child?"

"You get it from both ends then, dear," Narcissa said, "Just ask Andromeda."

Draco's eyebrow furrowed before he got up and walked out of the room.

"Was it something we said?" Silvia asked, her eyebrows arched high.

"I don't know," Narcissa pursed her lips before getting up and following him.

She stopped whenever she saw him bent over a table, scribbling furiously on a paper. He held it up and looked over at the tapestry on the wall before going back to the paper, writing carefully and glancing at the drape many times. He finally tore a few pieces off, grabbing some tape and walking over to it. He held one up carefully before taping it. He did this again over to his left, then finally just slapped a blank one over another name. He smiled then walked out, right after she had hidden in a shadow. She watched him walk down the hall before stepping into the room, immediately going to the tapestry and staring down at it.

There were two pieces of paper next to her name, one of them reading _Andromeda (Black) Tonks_, and the blank one was covering up Bellatrix. Narcissa had to smile slightly, but she blinked whenever she looked to her left and saw _Sirius Black_ written there in her son's careful script. Her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered why Draco had put him there before she remembered something from his third year, when he had been home for Christmas.

"_I can't believe they're actually letting us go to school while that lunatic's running around," he had said, slumping down into the couch and glaring at his wand as he twirled it around, "I mean, someone could get killed. Like me." _

_Narcissa had rolled her eyes, smiling slightly, "You just want to get out of school."_

"_Is that a bad thing?" he had asked innocently, making his eyebrows go up. _

_She laughed, "And be careful what you say about Sirius Black, Draco." _

"_Why? Is he hiding behind our family tapestry?" Draco joked, nodding his head over towards the thing, where blast marks were. _

"_Actually, he kind of is," Narcissa walked over and pointed to a blast next to Regulus Black, "This would be where Sirius's name was before he ran away to live with James Potter's family." _

_Draco's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, "__**What?**__" _

"_In all honesty, his parents weren't exactly nice to him, since he had been in Gryffindor and breaking the Slytherin tradition. And he wasn't exactly a little angel either. I remember that one time, during the summer holidays; he had actually pushed Bella into a pond." _

_The corner of his mouth twitched, "Really?" _

"_Yes. She wanted to kill him," she had frowned, "I had to intervene or else she would've. And the idiot had been laughing the whole time she screamed at him." _

"_So…I'm related to the killer that escaped from Azkaban?" _

"_Oh, I never thought he killed anybody. Pranked, teased, annoyed, sure, but not kill," she had shrugged before turning to Draco, "You'll tell your father none of this." _

"_Why would I? Aside from being in prison and being blasted off the tapestry, I think I would've actually liked him. Kind of like me." Draco then froze at the look she had given him, "Umm…I mean…he's nothing like me, at all. And I'll just…go now." _

Narcissa smiled and looked over the tapestry before turning towards the door, giving it a look over her shoulder before she left, "I'll take them down before Lucius comes home."

* * *

…**Inside, Draco's just a sweet little kid, I just know it. But, hey, that's just me. **

**Now, as you've probably figured out, this doesn't have a pre-planned plot. I just think and think and think and type down whatever I want. So there. :P I've got a few things figured out in the future, but not step by step like Narcissa says this, Draco says this, this happens, blah-blah-blah. No. I don't do that. **

**And I liked Narcissa in the Deathly Hallows. I won't give anything away, I promise. I just think that she did what any mother would do in that position. But if Voldemort was real…most of us would be dead. But we'd die happy knowing that J. K. Rowling's universe existed. Wouldn't get a chance to enjoy it though…yeesh, I'm ranting. Okay, see ya next chapter. **


	11. Shopping and Swimming

_Dear Luna…Ginny…Harry,_

_I can't decide which three of you to send it to, so I guess I'll make copies and give them to you. _

_Well, I'm at Malfoy Manor and things are…weird. And no, Ginny, not your definition of weird. It's just not the way I expected everything. Blaise Zabini has a little sister named Madge who wants me to come to her birthday party next Saturday, which is also Draco's great grandmother's 700__th__ birthday, so they're mashing the two together, creating a party for seniors and children. And I have to dress up for it. Alicia would already be dragging me to a mall. And then there's Draco's aunt Silvia, who had a baby girl named Catrina. Catrina is so cute and you can spend at least an hour playing with her without noticing where the time goes. Madge is this little ball of energy that can vary between annoyance and cute. And then there's Blaise, who can vary between annoyance and crazy. _

_So…how're things with you guys? I miss you all, I wish I could come and see you. Write to me as soon as you get the chance. _

_Love, Hermione_

_

* * *

_

Dear Hermione,

_I still hate him. He calls me Weaslette. I hate him. I don't care what you say, I hate him. But everything else sounds nice there, Mione. Aside from Draco. I hate him. Blaise __**is**__ weird, though, isn't he? I saw him at Diagon Alley with Ferret. They were arguing about something. Don't ask me what. _

_Harry says that he's staying with us now, so don't send anymore letters to the Dursleys'. Have you met them? Harry says they're horrible. Imagine if they got another letter from you for Harry. Hehe…do it. Gripe about his aunt and uncle and cousin in it. You just know they read his letters anyway. _

_So, anyway…I'm bored. Glad you're having fun, but I – am – BORED, woman! Entertain me. _

_Love, _

_Ginny_

_

* * *

_

Dear Hermione,

_**QUIT HAVING FUN WITH MALFOY! :|**_

_Ron and I got a stash of magical paper, so we can write on two different papers but it appears on one. The only problem is, we can't interrupt each other. _

_**STOP IT. I MEAN IT.**_

_Ron needs to calm down. He's actually breathing very heavily as he's writing. The kid is going to have an aneurism before he's eighteen._

_**SHUT UP HARRY I'M YELLING AT HERMIONE.**_

…_Anyway, just be careful while you're there, okay? Give us weekly updates. _

_**DAILY.**_

_Weekly is fine, Ron._

_**NO IT ISN'T. BETTER MAKE IT HOURLY.**_

… _I just took his paper away and gave it to Hedwig. :) See you at Hogwarts, Hermione!_

_Love, _

_Harry and Ron._

_**PS – STAY AWAY FROM MALFOY.**_

_PPS – he got the paper back. Not my fault. _

* * *

Blaise was laughing as Hermione sighed, running a hand over her eyes and moaning as she leaned back in the chair.

"Man, Ron must really hate Draco. The feeling is also mutual with Ginny, apparently," Blaise chuckled.

"Of course," Hermione rolled her eyes, "She's related to Ron."

"Hmm?" Draco asked once he entered the room, a letter in his hand and an owl perched on his shoulder, "What?"

"Why does Ron Weasley hate you so much?" Blaise asked.

"Oh, well, let's see," Hermione sighed, lowering her own letters, "There's being a brat, being a snob, the slug incident – "

"Hey, hey, hey, that one was _not_ my fault," Draco frowned before sitting in a chair opposite her, "That was his messed up wand's fault."

"Mmhmm. You egged him on!"

Draco just rolled his eyes and looked down at the letter in his hand. After a minute, his eyebrows melded down on his forehead.

"Vrrrooooom!" Madge laughed as she ran into the room, her arms outspread, ", we're going to go shopping for dresses this afternoon! Weeeeeeeeee!"

"Oh great, shopping!" Hermione said, smiling at the little girl. She made another rotation before running out of the room, making Hermione slink into her chair and mutter sarcastically, "Oh great, shopping."

Draco suddenly stood up, crumpling the letter into a wad before throwing it against the wall and growling as he walked hastily out of the room.

"Draco?" Hermione asked, standing up and watching him leave.

"What was that about?" Blaise asked, going over to the letter and picking it up, squinting at it as she left to go check on him.

_

* * *

_

Draco,

_As you may have noticed, I am absent during this month. I am on business in France. The scenery is beautiful and I intend to send pictures to you and your mother once the trip is over. The food is amazing and the people here are charming. I visited Beauxbatons and saw that they are at least half a year ahead of you._

_As you may have also noticed, I am gone during a specific month. The month in which a certain unnamed person is in our home. I refuse to reside under the same roof as a Mudblood, so until this unnamed person leaves, I shall stay in France. I might even have your mother come up as well, since I can't stand the thought of her being there with tainted blood as well. You have spent all year with her, so it should be no problem for you to do so for a few more weeks. _

_Lucius_

* * *

"Son of a -!" Blaise cursed before wadding up the paper himself, throwing it forcefully into a nearby desk drawer.

"Draco, just tell me what's wrong!" Hermione pleaded as Draco came stomping back into the room. He froze once he saw that the letter was gone, looking at Blaise with an eyebrow arched. He nodded quickly and he sighed.

"Hermione, just drop it!" he snapped.

"No! There's obviously something wrong that you aren't telling me about! What was in that letter?"

"Nothing! Why don't you go – go read or something?"

She continued to glare at him before turning on her heel and walking out.

"He – he!" Draco growled, "He's such a – a!"

"I know, I read it," Blaise started pacing, "Why can't he…He's such a - ! ...I don't even know, I'm just mad!"

"We're off early!" Madge giggled as she walked in the room again, tugging on Hermione's hand, "See you!"

"Bye," the boys said bitterly. Hermione opened her mouth for a second, but quickly closed it once Natalie walked in.

"Alright, Narcissa has the Floo Powder all ready," she said, reaching over to adjust her daughter's hair, "You boys _will_ behave, won't you?"

"Yes, Mum," Blaise said dully, picking at is ear, "We'll be fine, Mum."

"Bye," Hermione said slowly as she followed the Zabini girls out of the room.

"Bye Hermione," Draco said quickly before she left. She stopped and turned to smile at him, but was tugged out by an eager Madge.

"What was that?" Blaise asked with a grin after a few seconds of silence.

"What was what?" Draco arched an eyebrow at him.

"Bye Hermione," Blaise repeated in a rush.

"What? I was being _polite_."

"Mmhmm," Blaise hummed, seating himself in a chair and smirking darkly at him, tapping his fingertips together. "Me thinks our little Draco has a wee bit of a crush on Miss Granger, hmmmmm?"

"_What?_ Are you off your rocker?"

"Hey, I'm just saying," Blaise stood up and walked over to a bookshelf built into the wall, pulling out a leather backed book, "Let's see exactly the symptoms for a crush."

"I told you," Draco frowned, "We made that when we were eleven! It doesn't apply now!"

"Pffft, what are you talking about? We studied older kids for _weeks_! It should apply to us," Blaise said, dropping the book on the couch before kneeling before it, flipping through its pages. "Let's see…ahhhh. _Classic symptoms for a crush of any age is daydreaming, fantasizing, drooling, doodling names together on paper_ – "

"Skip to sixth years," Draco interrupted, pacing back and forth.

"I thought this didn't apply to us, Oh Impatient One?" he smirked when Draco glared at him. "Alright, alright. _Symptoms for a sixth year crush would be politeness, staring at the subject/victim _– heh, that was funny, that one. Anyway – _thinking excessively about the subject, liking any or all of the subject's features._ Which, in short, my friend, spells – U – R – SCREWED."

"What?" Draco snapped, "How does any of this - ?"

"'Bye Hermione!', staaaaaaaare, that time in the Dorm, and I think you were complimenting her about her hair one day. I haven't had enough experience around a Draco Compliment to spot one, but it seemed like one."

Draco just stared at him for a long time before dropping his gaze and muttering, "Crap."

"HA! In your _face!_ I was right and _yoooouuuu_ were wrong!" Blaise sang happily, jumping up and doing a weird victory dance, while he just stood there, staring at the floor.

**

* * *

**

Diagon Alley

"So, Hermione…" Narcissa started, but stopped once she looked up at her, "…How is…your…family?"

"They're great, I guess," Hermione answered. They stared at each other for a while before Narcissa's brow furrowed.

"Yes, well, that's…good." She responded with a nod.

"Hermione, I have a question," Madge said, actually raising her hand and standing on her toes.

She smiled, "Yes, Madge?"

"How did your parents react when you got your Hogwarts letter?"

"Oh…confused, I think, but once Professor McGonagall got there and started explaining everything…I still think they're confused, but they hide it pretty well."

"Oh…did they think you were weird?"

Hermione blinked, "No, I don't think so."

"So…they still love you?"

"Madge," Narcissa hissed, "Of course Hermione's parents still love her! Where would you get the idea that they wouldn't?"

"I heard Lucius talking to Draco one day. He told him that nobody would ever love a…a…" Madge dropped her gaze to her shoes, "He said the bad word, Aunty Narcissa. The word Mummy and Blaise told me not to say ever."

Hermione paled and she had the sudden impulse to cry, but she held her head higher and said, "Well, that's…that, then."

"Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry," Narcissa placed a hand on her shoulder, "If I could change Lucius, I would." Hermione looked up and saw a look in her eyes, the same look her mother gave her during bad times. She wanted to hug Narcissa Malfoy and perch her chin on her shoulder, the same way she hugged her own mother.

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy, that means a lot," Hermione smiled.

"Alright!" Natalie chirped, walking briskly up the sidewalk to them, "I went to Gringotts and got some money and now we can go shopping!"

"Where do you feel like going?" Narcissa asked, taking her hand off Hermione's shoulder.

"I don't really come here for anything but school supplies," Hermione admitted, "So please, don't ask me."

"Alright, we'll check out a few shops," Natalie smiled.

"I can't _wait_ until I can go to Hogwarts!" Madge grinned, taking Hermione's hand and swinging it back and forth, "I hope to get sorted into Ravenclaw, that's the smart group!"

Hermione blinked at the little girl, "Ravenclaw?"

"Bet you thought I'd say Slytherin, huh?" Madge giggled, "Yeah, well, that's what Daddy wanted. But Daddy isn't here to tell me what to do. Now I listen to Mummy and Blaise."

"Hmm…well, I bet you'll make a great Ravenclaw," she smiled down at her.

"They're so cute," Natalie smiled at Narcissa, looking over her shoulder at the two girls, "Maybe I could rope Hermione into babysitting my kids. She knows how to deal with Blaise, a miracle. What do you think?"

Narcissa laughed, "You'd certainly have to pay her enough. No offense."

"None taken," Natalie sighed, "My children are _strange_, Narcissa."

"Heard that!" Madge called.

"Oops," Natalie smiled, "Sorry, Love!"

"Oooh, in there!" Madge said after a while, pointing into a store with fuzzy dresses in the window.

"Alright, come on," Narcissa said, nodding her head towards the door. She pushed it open, leading the way inside. It was brightly lit, with light music floating through the air. There were racks upon racks filled with dresses of different shapes and sizes.

"Pretty!" Madge said, releasing Hermione's hand and running through the store, having her mother chase after her. Narcissa sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling at Hermione.

"Think of her as a training child for when _you_ have children, Hermione," she smiled before walking over towards a rack of dresses, "What size are you? Four?"

"Umm, in all honesty, I don't know," she admitted.

"Hmm, alright…oh, there's my friend Helen! She works here, she can probably measure you. Helen!" Narcissa waved her over. Helen was a tall woman with hardly any fat on her, much less muscle. She had bright blonde hair pinned back into a strict bun, and a nose that pointed up to the sky.

"Narcissa!" she said in a slightly deep voice, holding her arms out for an "Air-Hug".

"Helen," Narcissa smiled, "Would you please measure my son's friend?"

"Of course! What's your name dear?" Helen turned to Hermione, pulling a measuring tape out of her sleeve in a slow motion.

"Hermione Granger," she smiled pleasantly. Helen froze before straightening herself and wrapping the measuring tape around Hermione's waist.

"I see," Helen said briskly, checking the size before snapping it away from her, "You're a size four. Good day." She walked off, her heels making angry clicks on the floor.

There was silence before Hermione sighed, looking down at her hands, "Why do people I never meet know my name?"

"Oh, don't worry," Narcissa smiled slightly, "It's just…we're snobs, you could say. Purebloods, I mean."

Hermione blinked and looked up at her, smiling slightly and nodding, "You're not. Neither is Mrs. Zabini."

"Yes, well, we're like that without our husbands," Narcissa shrugged, looking through the different colors. She paused, "You know Arthur Weasley, yes? Well, you'll tell no one of this, not even Draco, but…I also find Muggles fascinating. How they can function without magic."

"Really?" Hermione's eyebrows shot up, "I never knew."

She shrugged again before holding up a dress in front of Hermione - which she only saw the back of - nodding before holding it on her arm.

"Yes, this will look good on you. Let's find Madge and Natalie, shall we?" She nodded slowly following her through the store.

**

* * *

**

Malfoy Manor, Draco's Room

Draco huffed, sitting down at his desk and putting his feet up, glaring out the window. Stupid Blaise. Stupid Pact with its stupid rules. Stupid hormones.

He got out two pieces of paper, a quill and some ink and set his feet down, positioning the paper and quill.

_Things I Hate About Hermione Granger_ was on the left paper, _Things I Like About Hermione Granger_ on the right.

"Alright," he mumbled, "Let's get started…She…she's sensitive. Can't have that." _She's sensitive_ was carefully written on the left paper. He sat there and stared at it for a while before groaning and scratching it out, putting it back on the right paper.

After thirty minutes, other things joining _She's sensitive_ were on the right paper, while only a scratched out line was on the left. He sat there and stared at the two, absentmindedly running a hand through his hair. He groaned again before slamming his head on his desk, glaring down at the words in his line of vision. _Hermione Granger_ was all he saw. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, sitting up after a minute.

"Draco, we're back," Hermione said, stopping at the doorway. He quickly flipped the papers over and turned around. She blinked at him before she had to hold back a laugh.

"What?" he asked.

She giggled, "You laid your head on wet ink, didn't you?"

He whirled around to his mirror before glaring darkly at the black smudge on his forehead. She laughed before grabbing his hand, taking him into the bathroom and grabbing a washcloth to wet it.

"I can do this by myself," he told her.

She rolled her eyes, wringing the rag and untwisting it, "Shhh, I'm procrastinating."

"You? From what?"

"Seeing myself in a dress," she mumbled, frowning at his smudge.

He snorted, rolling his eyes as she dabbed at it, "Of all the stupid…."

"Shut up," she said, rubbing forcefully at his skin. He winced before glaring at her, making her smirk.

"So," he said, "How was your day with Madge, Mrs. Zabini and my mother?"

"Eh," she shrugged, "It was alright, I guess."

"Hmm, you have much more tolerance for shopping than I do, apparently," Draco mumbled.

She laughed and he smiled slightly before frowning. _Her laugh_ would have to go on the Like list.

"DRAAACCOOOOO!" Blaise sang, "I'M HERE TO ANNOY YOOOOUUUU!" He swung in on the door frame, pausing once he saw the look Draco gave him. One of pure loathing.

"Hermione," Blaise said quietly, "Draco's being scary."

"Draco, quit scaring him," Hermione said dully.

"Whatever," he mumbled, looking down at his hand.

"Alright, I think I got most of it," she said, examining his forehead, "Although it's _kiiinda_ grey in that area."

"Yeah, I know," Blaise agreed, "He's always kinda grey."

"Shut up, Blaise," Draco growled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yes, I can totally see why you have so many friends. Not."

"Shut up, Granger."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" she retorted.

"Make me, Granger!"

"Don't make me hit you," she glared.

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Blaise chanted before cackling at the looks they gave him.

"You're insane," they said together before looking at each other warily.

"Anyway, I'm going to go hide out in your library," Hermione said.

"Oh, don't hide there," Draco told her as she began to walk out, "They'll be looking for you there. Try somewhere else."

"Like Draco's room," Blaise said, smiling innocently at them. But Draco knew better.

"Like somewhere that _isn't_ my room," he glared at Blaise.

"Oh…kay…considering that I only know where the library, your room and my room are – yeah, sure, they'll never find me," Hermione snorted.

"I'll help you! I know lots of places! OH MY GOSH!" Blaise suddenly screamed, making a 'hold everything' motion, "Draco. WE DID NOT SHOW HER OUR RIVER."

"OH MY GOSH," Draco mimicked Blaise's tone and expression, "WE NEED TO SHOW HER OUR RIVER." He then stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes. Hermione giggled and he smirked, shoving his hands into his pockets, "But, seriously, our river is pretty cool. C'mon."

"FOLLOW ME!" Blaise yelled, grabbing her arm and towing her down the hall.

"BLAISE! I NEED HER IN ONE PIECE SO I WON'T GET DETENTION!" Draco yelled as he ran after them. Hermione made an offended gasp, slightly glaring at him as Blaise turned a corner and flung the door open. He laughed as the wind stung his eyes as he ran behind them. He stopped once Blaise put her in front of the rushing river. He walked up to them catching the end of Blaise's sentence.

" – and it's like always cold and it's always this violent. And we like throwing random crap in it. And…yeah," Blaise shrugged.

"We threw Blaise's shoe in there once," Draco shrugged, standing on the other side of her, "It floats up every once and a while."

"Hermione!" Madge said happily, running towards her, "I _found_ you!"

Blaise and Draco groaned, to which Hermione elbowed both of them in their ribcages.

"Hi Madge," Hermione grinned.

"Hermione, are you hiding from Mummy and Aunty Narcissa?" Madge pouted, "We just want to see you in your dress."

"Yeah, Granger," Draco drawled, "You can look decent in a dress…when you want to."

"Yes – don't make it seem like a compliment," Blaise told him, "Lose another friend. Just like you lost Todd."

"Todd?" Hermione and Draco repeated.

"Who the fre-aaaaah," Draco winced at the sharp kick Hermione had taken to his shin, "Who the heck is Todd?"

"…I thought you knew somebody named Todd," Blaise said, his eyebrows going up.

"Anyway," Draco began to walk, making the others walk with him, "So…what're you doing once our sentence is over, Granger?"

Hermione pursed her lips, "Ginny wants me to entertain her. I guess I could kidnap her and take her to France with me and my family."

"France?" Draco repeated, dread sliding down the inside of his stomach.

"Yeah. Have you ever been there?" she asked.

"Uhh…no," he said numbly, words playing through his mind: _I refuse to reside under the same roof as a Mudblood, so until this unnamed person leaves, I shall stay in France. _"No, I haven't. I heard it's really…beautiful, though."

"Draco, are you okay?" she asked. He was about to answer when they heard a scream behind them, followed by a splash.

"MADGE!" Blaise screamed, whirling around and running towards the splash. Draco and Hermione followed, Draco stooping down to take off his shoe to dive in after her, but Hermione was already in the air, bringing her head up from the water as she fought against the current.

"Madge, Madge!" Blaise kept screaming. Her head finally popped up, her eyes wide open as well as her mouth, but her head went under as fast as it had come up. Hermione got closer to her, her feet sliding against the slippery rocks. She wrapped her arms around the little girl, picking her head up above the water so she could cough. Blaise was already at the edge, picking his little sister up and out of the water.

"Granger," Draco said, reaching his hand out to her. She was about to take it when she gasped and her head was pulled suddenly underwater. Draco straightened up before going in after her, squinting through the water to see Hermione, kicking a grindylow as it held onto her other ankle. He swam towards them, grabbing a particularly heavy rock and smashing it over the grindylow's head. He released her foot, rubbing its head and squinting its eyes shut. He grabbed her arm and they shot upwards, gasping for breath.

"Hold on!" he shouted over the water, grabbing her hand and moving it towards a branch. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Blaise holding his little sister, screaming for help. Madge was still coughing up water, shivering. He realized that he was slipping the same time Hermione did, her free hand wrapping around his tightly.

"Mum! Narcissa!" Blaise screamed. There was a scream as Natalie saw her little girl, then a gasp as Narcissa saw her son and Hermione clinging onto a branch.

"Hermione, we need to move," Draco told her, "Or we'll never get out of here. C'mon."

"Right. On the count of three," she took a deep breath, "One." Her grip tightened. "Two." So did his. "Three." They were underwater again, but they stayed together as they tried to keep their heads above water. Blaise grabbed Hermione and Draco, hauling them onto the ground. Hermione collapsed, her body already aching from the fight. Draco gulped in air, watching as Madge's eyes flitted open, even though he didn't know they had closed.

"Thank you," she croaked. He nodded and smiled slightly.

"Never again, never ever again!" Natalie vowed as she grabbed her daughter and held her, rocking her back and forth, "Never ever again!"

Draco army-crawled over to Hermione, flopping onto his side next to her. She opened her eyes and panted, staring at him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem," the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Come on, let's get you changed and warm," Narcissa said softly, grabbing both of them by their arms and helping them up.

After an hour and a gallon of hot water, Draco and Hermione were sitting in the living room, perched on the couch close to each other for heat sources, even though the fire was right there in the fireplace. Madge walked slowly into the room before climbing into Hermione's lap.

"Thank you," she told her.

"You're welcome," she said, burying her face in her hair.

"Gryffindor," Draco said.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione mumbled.

"Why?" he arched an eyebrow, "That was a compliment."

"Really? You very rarely give me any."

"And besides," Madge said softly, "You went in after her. And me."

"Yeah," Hermione smiled, "Thanks. But I didn't need help."

"Mmmrrrffff," Draco rumbled as he slumped against Hermione. "Did too."

"Did not," Hermione yawned, snuggling against him. After a few minutes, Madge looked up and rolled her eyes at the sleeping teenagers.

"I'm not going to be trapped here," she said, carefully getting out of Hermione's arms and walking out of the room.

Blaise cackled silently as he and Narcissa stood before the sleeping couple. They had repositioned themselves so that Draco was lying on his back with Hermione's head on his chest, over his heart, one of Draco's arms wrapped protectively around her waist. Narcissa was smiling slightly with an eyebrow arched.

"Now, Narcissa," Blaise whispered, "Where _is_ your camera?"

Narcissa smiled at him, "Office desk, right hand drawer. Be quick." Blaise saluted and tip-toed away. He came back, snapping a few pictures before handing the camera to Narcissa. She chuckled before setting it on the end table.

"I dunno," Blaise waved his wand slightly, "Should we wake them and embarrass them or…?"

"Leave them alone. They've had a rough day," Narcissa frowned slightly.

"Fine," he shrugged, "Night, Narcissa." She nodded before walking out of the room with him, stopping to turn out the lights and smile at the teens.

**

* * *

**

Okay, so…yeah. I've had this part (the river bit) planned for a while. And then there's the day before Madge's birthday. And then Madge's birthday. And then we're going to play a little game. :)

**I love you for reading this. I'll love you more if you review.**


	12. PreParty Jitters and Pretty Pictures

**Okay, you know what? I love it when you people tell me your favorite parts of the chapter in your reviews. It makes me smile. :D So, yeah, don't stop doing that. Ever. To anybody. **

**Now, a lot of people are also telling me that Blaise is out of character…how do you **_**know**_**? Rowling only gave a very brief description of Blaise. He could act differently around his friends. You don't know. Neither do I. This is just my interpretation (oh gosh, that's a hard word to spell :P) of him. But, I digress. **

**To those reviewers – good luck on your French tests, I don't mind if you ramble, and hey look! – I'm updating! ASAP! :D**

**

* * *

**

Malfoy Manor

Hermione was warm. She didn't want to move. It was nice, wherever she was. She could've stayed there all day.

If a hand hadn't readjusted itself on her hip. Her eyes flew open and she saw the dying embers of the fire in the darkness. She could hear a faint _tha-thump_ under her ear, along with steady breathing. She looked up and saw Draco, his eyes roaming around under the lids. He was dreaming. As in, sleeping. Maybe he wouldn't notice if she –

She carefully picked his hand up and off her hip, sliding out from his arm before putting his hand down. She grimaced; he had been the warm thing. He had been the reason why she didn't want to move. She slowly put one foot on the ground, easing herself into a standing position.

What had happened? They were slumped next to each other, Madge had walked in and gotten in her lap…and that was it. She had fallen asleep with Draco Malfoy. A very tiny part of her brain said "Ewwwww!" But part of it was curious. And then the other – much bigger part – was embarrassed. She quietly walked out of the room, going to the one that had been assigned hers. Once she shut the door behind her, she felt guilty for leaving him there. She sighed and tried to ignore it, going over to the dresser and getting out pajama pants and a t-shirt before getting into bed.

After thirty minutes of lying there awake, she gave a frustrated sigh. Her heart was beating fast and she didn't know why. Hmm. Hermione Granger not knowing something. Strange. She decided to count sheep and when that didn't work, she walked over to the closet, got out the _History of Magic_ textbook and began to read.

The next time she opened her eyes, sunlight was streaming in through the curtains. She yawned and stretched, rubbing her eyes before closing the heavy book. She jumped when she heard Blaise and Draco.

"WASSUP, LOVEBIRrrrds?" Blaise's voice trailed off into a confused statement as Draco screamed.

"_BLAISE!_ What is _wrong_ with you?" Draco asked, sounding annoyed.

"Umm…I thought…did I…?"

"Quit mumbling and go do something useful. Like getting out of my house."

It was silent after that, so she walked into the closet and looked through the clothes. She stopped when she saw the dress bag at the end, somehow looking deadly, like it was about to reach out and bite her hand. She shook her head and made a move for her shirt, right when the door swung open.

"HERMIONE!" Blaise said happily as she screamed and dropped the shirt into its original position.

"_BLAISE!_" she yelled, "_Knock!_"

"Were you - ? Oh crap. You were." Blaise turned the corner and watched as her face turned red. "It's okay Mione – I didn't see anything."

"You were _about_ to!" she glared at him, but it didn't have the full effect with the steadily increasing blush.

"Was I?" a smirk appeared on his face, "Hmm…."

"Blaise Zabini, I swear, I will – " she started.

"Chill out, chill out, I was joking!" he laughed. He walked towards the door and hummed, "Or was I?"

"_BLAISE!_"

_SLAM!_

She growled in frustration before sighing. Blaise was an idiot. And a Slytherin. A very deadly – and annoying – combination. She reached back into her closet to get the clothes, only to find that they had been replaced by other clothes. The dress was still there though, to her disappointment.

There was a knock on her door and she walked over to open it, finding Narcissa standing there and smiling.

"Hello, Missus Malfoy," Hermione said, putting a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Hello, Hermione. You must be wondering where your clothes have gone."

"Umm…a little, yeah," she admitted.

"Well, you and I are going out today," Narcissa smiled, only it looked slightly like the smirk her son had when he was about to do something she wouldn't like. "May I suggest wearing the pale yellow skirt and the light blue blouse?" Without any answer from Hermione, she left.

"Yellow skirt, blue blouse? What am I, in Ravenclaw?" Hermione muttered before going back into the closet and getting out what she had told her to wear. She walked back out in a pale yellow skirt that went up to her mid-calf and a light blue blouse that didn't have enough top buttons for her liking. And then she realized something.

"I have no shoes," she told herself. "Well, this is…strange." She returned back to the closet, now looking at the shoes on the floor. She sighed and decided on white heeled sandals, which took a few laps around the room for her to get used to.

Another knock on her door, "May I come in, Hermione? I promise I won't be a pervert…this time."

Another voice asked Blaise, "When were you a pervert?"

"Oh, a while ago, when I nearly walked in on her changing."

"_Blaise!_" Draco snapped, making her smile and open the door.

"I didn't see anything though!" Blaise said, shielding his face with his arms, "I swear!"

Hermione laughed, making the boys look over at her. Draco's one glance turned into an eyebrow raised stare, while Blaise was smiling and nodding.

"Yeah, see? I told her. I was right. You look lovely," Blaise grinned before slapping his face, "I hang out with _waaaaay_ too many girls. I need to go watch Quidditch or something."

"You picked that out?" Draco asked. Once Blaise nodded, Draco smirked and put his hands in his pockets, "Well. I was wrong then. Luna Lovegood has had much more of an effect on you than I thought."

"_Shut up!_" Blaise hissed as Hermione tried not to laugh.

"Oh Blaise - when will you learn that I will never shut up as long as it annoys people?" Draco grinned.

"Shut up, darn you," he glared.

"Mmmm…no," he shook his head as he grinned wider.

"Draco, stop it," Hermione finally frowned. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes as Narcissa walked up.

"Hermione, you look so nice," she smiled, "And you picked out shoes too. Well, off we go. Bye boys!"

"Bye," they said as Hermione followed her.

Blaise grinned over at Draco, "Well. I was wrong then. Hermione Granger has had much more of an effect on you than I thought."

"Shut up," Draco frowned.

"Oh Draco – when will you learn that I will never shut up as long as it annoys people?"

"Shut up before I _Avada_ you," he glared.

"Oh, you'd feel guilty. You'd miss me. All you'd have left was my shoe in our river," Blaise pouted.

Draco sighed, rolling his eyes, "Why am I always left with _you?_"

**

* * *

**

Outside Malfoy Manor

"Hermione," Narcissa said, stopping on the pebbled walk, "Have you ever Apparated before?"

"No, I haven't," Hermione admitted.

"Well, we're going to feel some tugging. And maybe a little pinching. And you might get a headache. But just hold onto me tight and keep your limbs locked together."

"Ummm…alright," she nodded slowly before taking Narcissa's arm. She locked her legs together, pushing her other arm in on her side and squeezing her eyes shut. Narcissa rolled her eyes slightly before closing her eyes.

"You can relax now, we're fine," Narcissa told her. Hermione opened her eyes before grabbing on tightly to Narcissa's arm again, her legs wobbling and her head spinning.

"Ooohhhhh, I hate that," Hermione said once she regained her balance.

Narcissa chuckled, patting her hand, "It's alright. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah," she sighed, releasing her arm, "I'm fine."

"Good. Now come on, we have a few places to go." Hermione looked up at the hair salon in front of her, watching as a woman inside looked up and started grinning and waving for them to come inside.

"Umm, Narcissa…?" she asked warily as Narcissa grabbed her arm and gently tugged her towards the salon.

"Oohhh, Narcissa!" the woman said happily, reaching over and actually hugging her. She had long midnight black hair that curled at the end, dark cherry red lips and a simple black dress under her apron.

"I have missed you," the woman said bluntly, "You should have missed me. Because that's how it works."

Narcissa laughed and turned to Hermione, "Hermione, this is Julia Gray."

"Hello!" Julia said happily before hugging Hermione as well.

"Julia," Narcissa said, as if she were scolding a child, "Don't scare her."

"Oh hush – I'm friendly," Julia smiled, "So, what's up?"

"Well, Hermione is going to a party tomorrow and she has…unique hair. I was thinking that you could play with it today and then work your magic tomorrow?" Narcissa admitted.

"What?" Hermione blinked, "We – oh, Mrs. Malfoy, please don't go to all that trouble for me!"

"Shhh, Sweetie, I need business," Julia whispered to her before clapping her hands, "Alright! Now, what do you mean by 'unique'?"

"You have to be calm to brush it," Narcissa said before noticing Hermione's questioning look, "Draco told me."

"Hmm…alright…" Julia walked behind Hermione and began to scrunch up her hair, squinting out into space, "Yes…hmmm…I think I knoooww…" She dropped her hands and grabbed Hermione's towing her to her chair before plopping her in it.

"Alright Babe, I just want you to sit back and relax. Where's my scissors…?" Julia muttered as Hermione froze. Julia finally found them then turned Hermione around so she couldn't see her reflection in the picture covered mirror.

After an hour and a half of sitting there and feeling her head be poked and prodded, Julia and Narcissa were standing there and peering at her. After a few minutes of this, they both smiled and nodded before Julia slowly turned her around.

Hermione stared at her reflection before she slowly turned her head to the left, then the right. The curls in the ponytail perched on the crown of her head twisted and turned with her. The hair at the front of her face was twisted away to form graceful curls around her face. She could see sparkles in her hair; whether they were her imagination or something Julia had sneaked in.

"This is…" her attention was caught by a woman laughing at the edge of the mirror, usually hidden by hairspray. It was a grey picture, but the woman was grinning and smiling and she somehow knew that she had red hair and green eyes.

"Julia," Hermione said with a tone of urgency in her voice, "Who is this woman, right there?"

"Hmm?" Julia said lazily as she played with the back of Hermione's hair, "Oh, Lily Evans. We went to school together. We weren't that close, but she did let me play with her hair a lot."

"Can…can I have this picture? This is my friend's mother and…"

"Oh, Sweetie, I know who Harry Potter is, along with James Potter," Julia smiled before reaching over and plucking the picture off, handing it over to her, "There you are, Sweetheart."

"Thank you. For the picture and for making my hair beautiful," Hermione grinned, "You do magic."

"Well let's hope so," Julia whispered with a smile, "I did go to one of the greatest wizarding schools in Britain." She then stood up and turned to Narcissa, "It's on the tab. Are you taking her to Adam's next?"

"Yes," Narcissa nodded, "We're going to have a little study course."

"What?" Hermione asked as she stood up from the chair, holding the photo in her hands.

"Well, Hermione, I hope to see you again real soon!" Julia grinned before hugging her again.

After they left, Narcissa began to walk down the street, not even looking at the street names or the shops, but Hermione was taking in as much as she could. It was a Wizarding street, with Quidditch shops and magical book stores, like in Diagon Alley, but with less commotion.

"Alright, this is Adam's," Narcissa said, stopping in front of another salon. Hermione looked at the name before frowning.

"This is a make-up salon," she said.

"Yes," Narcissa smiled lightly before walking inside. Hermione sighed before following her, stopping when she saw a tall, blonde haired man hugging her.

"Cissy!" he said happily, "I missed you!"

Narcissa laughed, "Adam, let go!"

"No," Adam grinned, "You'll leave me again!"

"Adam," Narcissa snapped, "Hermione is going to think I'm cheating on my husband!"

"Ewww, me? With you? Ewwww," Adam wrinkled his nose and stepped away from her. He looked Hermione up and down before looking pointedly at Narcissa, "Who is she?"

"This is Miss Hermione Granger. Smartest witch of my son's age. But she still needs to learn one thing."

"What?" the two said together.

"Make-up. Hermione, Adam was one of my friends in Hogwarts. He is a master at make-up," Narcissa smiled, grabbing her hands and pulling her over to Adam, "You're in good hands. I'll be back."

"You're leaving me here?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Why must you leave meeeeee?" Adam whined to her. She laughed before waving at both of them and closing the door behind her.

"Pfft," Adam snorted, "Rude. Anyway, Hermione is it? Such a lovely name. Anyway, let's get you to a chair." He gently grabbed her forearm and pulled her into a chair with eyeshadows and blushes and foundations on stacked rows in front of them. A mirror was behind that, her eyes blinking back at her.

"Alright now…" he gently grabbed her chin, startling her slightly, "Pretty face, has anybody ever told you that?"

"Just my family," she shrugged, "And they always lie to make you feel better."

"No one at school?" Adam asked, smoothing down one of her eyebrows.

She gave a tiny laugh, "No. I'm the bushy headed bookworm."

"Aaaaaaaah. Well, you're pretty. You're going to be gorgeous when I'm through with you."

He snapped his fingers and a pretty blonde haired girl stepped forward, holding out an array of brushes. He got a few, checking Hermione's face a few times as he did so. He sat there and studied her face for a while before dabbing a brush in a light gray powder before asking her to close her eyes. They remained closed for the remainder of the ordeal.

"Oooooh," the girl from earlier said.

"Hermione," Adam said with a proud tone in his voice, "You can open your eyes now."

Her eyes blinked open, but they kept blinking once they were open. He had given her faint blue colored eyes, made her eyelashes longer by adding mascara, and had somehow made her lips seem…thicker, pink lipstick on them.

"Wow," she mouthed leaning forward and lightly touching her skin, "You…wow."

Narcissa came walking back in at that moment, pausing to smile at Hermione before handing a clipboard and papers to Adam.

"We've got a party tomorrow night. That's her dress, Julia's doing her hair something like that," she pointed at the papers, "Can you - ?"

"Of course, Cissy," Adam said, as if she would ever have to ask a think like that, "Anything for you. What time is the party?"

"Nine," Narcissa said, tapping her fingertips together.

"Alright. Come here at seven forty-five, then go to Julia's, and take the dress with you," Adam advised before turning to Hermione.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Miss Granger," he smiled.

"Same here," she smiled before standing up to leave with Narcissa.

"Alright," Narcissa checked her watch, "Let's stop for something to eat, then we can go home."

Hermione nodded in agreement before Narcissa took her to a restaurant. It had a simple and quiet theme, like something familiar in a small town. Narcissa had baked ziti while she had pizza.

"So…you seemed pretty urgent to get that picture," Narcissa said, pointing at the picture in Hermione's hands with her fork.

"Well…Harry never got to know his parents. He never got a picture or anything. His aunt and uncle are horrible – they locked him up in a closet underneath the stairs – and they wouldn't acknowledge magic at all, so I doubt they wanted him to know about his family. I'm babbling. I just think he should have this," Hermione admitted, holding up the picture for her to see. Lily laughed and covered her mouth with her hands, the smile remaining in her eyes.

"It's a good picture," Narcissa smiled, "One that will make Harry smile when he sees it. You know, you could ask for paper and a quill from the waitress, along with an envelope. We could send it off to Harry before we go."

"Oh, you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all, I want to see what you write," she smiled again before waving the waitress over. Once Hermione had paper and a quill, she made a space on the table and began to write.

_

* * *

_

Harry,

_I went to this hair salon – well, okay Mrs. Malfoy took me there – and the woman who worked on my hair (it looks __**great**__, by the way) went to Hogwarts with your mother! They weren't that close, she said, but they were close enough that your mother gave her a picture! She let me have it so…here! _

_I hope this makes you smile so that your face will hurt for weeks. But in a loving way. _

_Hermione_

* * *

Hermione beamed as she dropped the picture into the envelope. It jostled Lily a little, but she only continued to laugh and smile as the letter joined her. She quickly scribbled the address, Harry's name and her name on the envelope before licking it and closing it, dropping it in her lap.

Narcissa smiled back at her, "He'll love it."

"I know," Hermione continued to smile, "Thank you. I never would've gotten that for him if you hadn't taken me there."

She shrugged, waving her hand away, "Coincidence." But she smiled into her pasta as if it wasn't.

**

* * *

**

Malfoy Manor

Draco sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he and Blaise lounged on the couch. Blaise kept sighing and saying that he was bored, making Draco more annoyed.

Suddenly, they heard a moan from the hall, making them sit up and look between each other.

"We're back!" Narcissa's voice came from the hall, "Hermione, go sit down, you need it."

"I hate Apparating," Hermione told them, walking into the room and perching herself on the armrest of the couch. She arched an eyebrow at the stares they gave her.

"What?" she asked.

"You…you look," Blaise said before grinning, "Awww, you guys. You should know that you can't keep secrets from me."

"What?" she asked.

"I shouldn't say anymore, Draco might hit me really hard."

"You look…" Draco said, looking from her hair to her toes.

"I look…?"

Draco cleared his throat very loudly, dropping his gaze, "Nice."

"_Nice?_" Blaise repeated, "She looks _nice?_ Okay, one – you never tell a girl she looks 'nice'. That's like saying they look as good as they usually do. Two – _she's freaking gorgeous._ C'mon! Try another word! Not gorgeous, that's using my word."

"Thank you, Blaise," Hermione smiled slightly as Draco looked up dully at him.

"You look p-" Draco started.

"Don't use pretty," Blaise glared.

"You look cu-"

"Or cute."

"Blaise! You're taking out my whole bloody vocabulary!"

Blaise rolled his eyes, "Dig down deep. Find the gooey center. And bring a word out from there."

Draco sat there for half of a second before saying, "Beautiful."

Blaise suddenly stood up, clapping, "BRAVO. ENCORE." Draco grumbled and hid his face in a pillow as Hermione blushed and smiled.

"Well thank you," she said before standing up and walking down the hall.

"DON'T YOU DARE CHANGE," Blaise yelled. She rolled her eyes, opening the door and dropping herself on the bed. She sighed deeply, closing her eyes and enjoying the fluttering in her stomach before she began to question it. After a few minutes of doing this, there was knocking on her window. She looked up and blinked at Hedwig, opening the window and watching her fly in to stop on the bed, dropping the letter from her beak and staring intently at her.

"Wait a minute, I might have a letter to give back to you," she said, making a move for the letter.

_

* * *

_

Mione,

_Thank you, thank you, thank you! She's…You must've known how much I….Thank you __**so much**__, Hermione._

_Yes, my face will hurt for months now. Thank you._

_I now love you forever as the sister I never got._

_Harry_

_PS – I want you to take a picture of yourself and send it to me._

* * *

Hermione smiled, already reaching for paper and a quill.

_

* * *

_

Harry,

_I'm glad you love the picture, Harry. Once I found out who it was, I had to get it for you. And I'll ask to use the Malfoy's camera in a second. _

_I love you too Harry. _

_Hermione_

* * *

"I'll be right back," she told Hedwig, going out the door and back to the living room. Draco was there, a book over his face now.

"Draco?" she asked, making him pick the book up and stare at her.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Where's your camera?"

"Oh – right there," he pointed at the end table.

"Thanks," she smiled, reaching over to grab it, "And thanks for the stimulating conversation."

He grunted, putting the book back on his face. She laughed silently before taking the camera back to her room and taking a few quick shots. She examined the film, seeing only two pictures.

"I can just throw the roll of film in there," she shrugged, tossing the roll in the envelope before sealing it, handing it to Hedwig after giving her an owl treat. She spread her wings before flying out the window. Hermione walked over and watched her fly off until she was a speck, closing the window as she went to go get more film.

"Hey Mione – whatcha lookin' for?" Blaise asked, meeting her in the hall.

"Hi Blaise, do you know where the Malfoys keep the camera film?"

"Yeah, why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I took a few shots and sent the roll to Harry," she shrugged, "Mine were the only ones on the film, so…I just thought I could replace the film."

"The…film? In the camera? From the end table?" Blaise asked, his eyebrows coming down slightly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh _god_, you didn't," he said, his hands flying to his hair, "Did you already send it?"

"Yeah, a while ago. Why?"

"Oh my _god_. Hermione," he reached over and grabbed her shoulders, "Listen to me. You and Draco fell asleep together on the couch last night. I got the camera and took a picture with a new roll of film 'cause I didn't want Lucius to see it! You just sent Harry and the Weasleys a picture of you and Draco asleep on the couch!"

"What? No! I," she shook her head, "I took two pictures! There was two on the film!"

"Your thumb must've slipped! It happens all the time on that camera!"

She absorbed this before her eyes started to roll back in her head, the rest of her slumping forward, making Blaise lurch forward to catch her.

"Hermione, Hermione, wake up!" he said. She blinked her eyes open and started breathing heavily.

"I just sent Harry a picture of his mum. He was so happy and now…oh hell. This will kill him _and_ Ron. Blaise, how could you do this?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was an accident! I just did it to embarrass Draco! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

She sighed, "Nothing we can do now."

**

* * *

**

The Burrow

"Oh look, Mione's photos came quickly," Harry smiled at Hedwig, pulling away from Ron, who was looking at the picture of Harry's mother.

"She better not be having fun with Malfoy," Ron muttered before handing the photo of Lily back to Harry, taking the roll of film from Harry and putting it in a strange looking machine.

"What's that for?" Harry asked.

"It's to make the moving pictures move," Ron shrugged, "Although I don't think Mione could figure out how to do that on a camera, it's pretty complicated. Only Charlie knows how to do that."

"And they're ready," Harry said, reaching over and taking the two pictures out of the machine, "Ohh, she looks nice." He flipped the other on top before freezing and pushing the pictures against his chest.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly, "Nothing at all."

"Let me see."

"No!"

"Harry!" Ron made a move for the pictures. In a desperate act, Harry shoved the top picture into his mouth. Ron froze and stared at him like he was crazy.

"That's not a Snitch. Spit it out," he frowned.

Harry frowned and slowly spat it out into his hand. Ron rolled his eyes and uncrumpled it before staring at it. His eye then began to twitch after a few minutes before he clutched the picture into both hands, tearing it apart.

"_Damn_," Ron growled.

"Your own fault," Harry told him, "I tried to hide it from you. You never would've known. But _nooo._"

"Damn him," Ron's eye twitched faster as Harry towed him towards his bed.

"Lay down, Ron."

"He's going to die," Ron vowed.

"Yes he is," Harry nodded slowly, taking the pieces of the picture out of his hands, "He is going to die…someday." He stood up and slowly shook his head at the picture of his mother, "Don't worry, Mum. He's just a little crazy when it comes to Mione and Malfoy."

* * *

…**People who saw that coming since Hermione picked up the camera, say "I". I mean…that was just random. But I love it. And I am now officially updating! :D Kinda quick, huh?**


	13. And It Was Enchanting To Meet You

**Okay, it **_**would've**_** been a quick update, but FF had this little error thing. :P Craaaaaap. Anyway, let's see. In the story, we're on a Saturday….And it's Friday while I'm typing this….oooo-eeeee-oooooooooo.**

**And there will be songs in this chapter. Songs that don't belong to me. Thank you and read on so I'll love you.**

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

"Don't open it," Blaise advised Hermione, looking over her shoulder at the letter Hedwig had given her. The owl had long since left, leaving Hermione and Blaise standing there.

"I have to open it eventually. They'll think something happened to me," Hermione bit her lip.

"But…it's from Harry! He kinda acts like your brother or something. Ron is like that, only much more extreme. Please don't open it."

She made a move for the letter anyway, breaking the seal on the envelope and making Blaise whimper.

* * *

_Hermione_

_I should warn you – Ron's mad. Extremely mad. But not at you. At Malfoy._

_OH MY GOD, HERMIONE. YOU TOLD ME YOU DIDN'T LIKE MALFOY. YOU LIAR._

_We had to show Ginny, sorry. She has skills, Mione. Skills._

_He's a sucker for the feminine red hair. :P_

_**HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER. HOW COULD YOU. **_

_I smell a paragraphic rant. 'Scuse us, we're going to go take care of the gnome problem in the garden._

_We'll be back, don't worry. _

_**You said that you hated him as much as we did! You said that he was an arrogant snob who didn't care about anybody but himself! And then you go and and and and sleep with him! What has happened to you?**_

_Ron, nothing has happened to her. And she didn't sleep with him in the way you think they did, you pervert._

_**I thought you left.**_

_Yeah, well, I thought that at least somebody had to be on her side. Did you ever think that it was an accident? Did you ever think that when she woke up, she was embarrassed? Did you ever think that she didn't know that there was a photo until after she sent it? (And yes – Blaise wrote to me and explained everything.) I don't blame you at all Mione, but maybe you could explain something to me? I understand if you wouldn't want to tell Ron. _

…_**How come he wrote to you and not me?**_

_He said that he's slightly scared of a mad redhead. And he's got good reason to._

_**Well…I guess it's an accident. But you are to stay AWAY from him, Mione.**_

_Don't listen to him. Nobody ever does._

_Ginny, you left me all alone with the gnomes!_

_Oooh, I'm sorry. Did one of them bite you again?_

_Yes. :( It stings too._

_Awwww. C'mon, we'll go get you a bandage after we say bye to Mione._

_**Love,**_

_Harry, __**Ron**__, and __Ginny_

* * *

"Ohhh, Blaise," Hermione reached over and hugged him, "Thank you!"

"Yeah, I was worried that she didn't get the letter in time," he grinned, "Now, how much longer until you have to get pretty for Madge's party?"

Hermione checked her watch before sighing, "A few minutes."

"Awwww," Blaise pouted, "Wanna go bug Drakey?"

"No. He's been avoiding be a lot recently," she told him.

"Really? Hmm," he put a hand to his chin, "Weird."

"And when he does talk to me, it's barely a few words."

"Hmm," he hummed before muttering, "I guess he doesn't want to screw it up."

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. I'll talk to him about it. I doubt he even knows he's doing it."

"Thanks. So is Madge excited?"

"Oh, she hasn't shut up," he sighed, "She keeps bouncing and counting down every minute until the party."

Hermione smiled, "That's cute."

"Not after an hour of it." Blaise humphed and sat himself down in a chair, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

"Blaise Zabini, don't tell me _you_ never acted like that," she smirked.

"But…" he pouted more, "Mione!"

"You hypocrite," she rolled her eyes, "Are all Slytherins like this?"

"Wha? Oh, no, mostly all of the Slytherins are snotty manipulative shallow…did I have a point or was I just rambling?"

She grinned as Madge came twirling into the room, her arms outspread so she could grab Hermione's hand for support. Once she regained her balance, she was giggling and jumping up and down.

"I'm so excited!" she told Hermione before flying over to Blaise, "I'm five!"

Blaise laughed and picked her up, setting her down in his lap, "I know Kid, I know!"

Madge squirmed as Draco walked in the room, "Dracoooo! Tell Blaisey to let me go!"

"Blaise, c'mon, it's her birthday," Draco told him, "Let her go."

"Wait, we're missing a critical point in her sentence," Hermione said before arching an eyebrow at them, "How come you never told me your nickname _Blaisey_?"

Blaise groaned and hid his face in Madge's hair, making Madge and Draco snicker as Hermione smiled.

"I mean, you already knew my nickname before I even told you! And this is how you repay me?" she gave a pout of her own, "Anything else you want to tell me?"

"I dunno," Blaise said, glaring at the lot, "Why don't you ask _Drakey?_"

"Oh please," Draco snorted and rolled his eyes, "That's _so_ unoriginal. At least Hermione's is unique."

"Mione," Blaise hummed, "If you say it repeatedly and quickly, it sounds like you're kissing someone. Try it! Mionemionemionemionemione-"

"Okay, we get it," Draco frowned.

"Well excuse me, Mister Moody-Butt!" Blaise frowned, "Just trying to have a little fun! Or do you not remember what that is?"

"Wha-?" one of Draco's eyebrows went high up, "Moody-Butt?"

"Okay, even I don't get that," Madge told everyone.

"_You_," he pointed at Draco and squinted his eyes, "Are avoiding Mione. How _dare_ you, Sir!"

"I thought I was Mister. Did I just get knighted and not know it? And have I?" he turned to Hermione, "Been avoiding you, I mean?"

"Yeah, a little," she smiled a little, "Thought you were mad at me or something."

"Oops," he muttered.

"Ohhhh, you did it again," Blaise looked sympathetic, "So distant, you are."

"What?" Hermione and Madge finally asked.

"Yeah, whenever I have a lot of…stuff going on, I – " Draco started.

"He ignores everybody and everything and you can't even – " Blaise interrupted.

"Hermione, Madge, we need to go!" Natalie exclaimed as she walked into the room, leaning over to kiss Blaise on the forehead, "Bye Sweetie, we'll see you at the party."

"Muuuuum," Blaise whined as Draco smirked, an evil little thought already whirling around in his mind, "Not in front of my friiiieeeends."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "I'm the only mum you've got. So when I die, you're going to miss me and my motherly ways." She then paused before kissing his forehead again, making him scrunch up his nose and whine more.

"She's right Blaise," Hermione interjected, "How would you feel if the woman who cared for you and loved you no matter what was suddenly gone?"

Blaise frowned and shrunk into the couch cushion, "Stupid know-it-all with her stupid knowing-it-all ways and her stupid…."

Hermione giggled before shaking her head at him and walking out with Natalie, who instantly locked arms with her and stuck her tongue out at her son. Blaise huffed and sunk lower into the couch – as if it were even possible.

Draco sat down and opened his mouth, taking a breath to talk, but Blaise stopped him by leaping forward and pushing a pillow on his face.

"Shut up," he said as Draco laughed, "Just shut up."

He pushed the pillow away still laughing, "I didn't say anything!"

"You were about to! And don't make me say something about Hermione!"

Draco was suddenly all business, frowning up at him, "What are you - ?"

"Ohoho?" Blaise smirked now, sitting up and putting the Draco-smothering pillow in his lap, "What is this? A nerve that I have plucked? Hmmm…So…conclusion?"

"Of what?" he sat up, glaring at him.

"You know…that whole 'thing'? I mean, come on. You started acting funny when you saw her at the Yule ball. Been acting funny since you got here. Not your whole 'grrr, lookit me, I'm Draco Malfoy, grrr' thing."

"I don't growl, Zabini."

"You're avoiding the inevitable!" Blaise sang.

Draco sighed and dropped his face in his hands, "I don't know, okay? It's not just something you can make a snap decision for."

Blaise turned towards him, turning his back on the doorway, where Narcissa slowly peeked her head out from it, her eyebrows up as she watched the two boys interact.

"Hey, I get it, mate," Blaise told him, "But c'mon – you've had more than a month to decide."

"I hated her the first few weeks," Draco told him as Narcissa tiptoed out to the other doorway, watching them to whole time.

"Alright, so at least a month."

"Friends after the first few weeks."

"Oh my Merlin – I can't help you when I know nothing!"

Draco lifted his head, luckily once Narcissa was out of sight, "…I'll tell you everything."

"Everything? Oh awesome, let me go get some snacks," Blaise grinned before getting up. Draco groaned, already regretting his idea.

So they sat there, Draco spilling out everything that happened during his stay at the Granger home. Once he was done, a house elf told them that they had to start getting ready for the party, since there was only fifty minutes left to get dressed and go over to the Zabini's. They went their separate ways before meeting up to walk to Blaise's house together.

"Okay, so…you just want to work on the relationship?" Blaise repeated.

"Yes, and it would work a lot easier if you weren't butting in," Draco frowned at him as they walked down the road.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help. Mione likes me, so I – "

"Pffft. She's only ever seen what you act like when I'm around. Does she know how you act at school? The quiet guy to everyone else, but my personal bugger?"

Blaise frowned, "Look, Mione's cool. I actually want you to end up with her, unlike Pansy. Pansy's creepy. Anyway, I'm just praying that you don't screw everything up before the end of the month."

"Why would I screw it up? You might screw it up!" Draco said as Blaise rolled his eyes and opened the door, walking in and going through a bunch of rooms until they reached a garden.

"Look, I'm just saying," he shrugged, "Things don't exactly work well for us, you know."

Draco sighed, "I know."

"Now, let's go find Mione and save her from our mothers, shall we?"

He grinned slightly, "She'll be thankful, at least."

So they walked around, talking to people as they kept an eye out for Hermione. Madge suddenly appeared, babbling about how much fun she was having and how awesome chocolate was before leaving with some of her friends. Blaise sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. They continued talking to people before someone of the two finally realized that if Madge was back, so was Hermione.

"But where is she? It's starting to get dark," Draco frowned out at the sky.

"Well…let's find one of our mums," Blaise said, scratching the back of his head, "Hey, you know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"Mione's the only girl here our age. Madge's friends are way too young, and your family is…y'know, mostly made of grownups."

"And not everyone in my family is like my mother," Draco froze before walking off again, "C'mon Blaise!"

"Hey, I see your mum!" Blaise said happily after a while, pointing over at her. Draco sighed, relieved that she was only talking to Sylvia and looked as if she had been doing so for a while. He walked over to her, waiting for a pause in their conversation before talking.

"Mother, where's Hermione?" Draco asked.

"You mean you don't recognize her either?" Sylvia said, her eyebrows going up.

"Oh she hates it," Narcissa smiled slightly, "Kept fidgeting the entire time. Anyway, I think Natalie stole her away. Go save her, will you?"

"Right," Blaise said, "Some of my family's here. And – let's face it – we're kinda weird."

"Kinda?" Draco repeated.

He smirked and nudged him, "Shush you, let's find Mione."

The two women watched them walk a distance away before Narcissa leaned forward.

"Syl, you'll never believe it. I was walking down the hall and I heard Blaise and Draco talking. It was about Hermione. Blaise thinks Draco might like her, but Draco's confused."

"Well, what about Hermione?"

"I don't know…" Narcissa frowned slightly, "I have an assumption, but I can't tell whether it's correct or not."

Sylvia looked sympathetically at her before looking over for Draco and Blaise, "They're literally inches away from her, and they haven't noticed it. Oh, I wish I had a camera to save the looks on their faces when they see her! You know, she's a pretty girl; she just doesn't want to put much effort into looking nice."

"I actually think that's what makes her…her, you know? She has much more time to do other things."

"I know. I hate waking up at five in the morning to put my face on," Sylvia pouted before turning her attention back to the boys.

"Mum!" Blaise grinned, finally finding his mother, "We found you!"

"I didn't know you were looking for me, but," Natalie shrugged, "Okay. Glad you found me."

"Mum, where's Hermione?" Blaise asked once he gave her a one shouldered hug, "We need teenage social interaction."

Natalie blinked, "You mean you don't recognize her? Oh, Hermione, come here, come here!" She reached behind her and got a brunette, towing her in front of her. "Boys, this is Hermione."

Hermione arched an eyebrow at them as they tried to recognize her as herself. She had her hair in large waves, except for around her face where curls were framing it. Her dress was dark red, a transparent fabric holding up the top of her dress around her neck from the strapless top.

"You seriously didn't recognize me?" she asked with a smile, making them jump once they realized that it was her voice.

"Whoa, Mione," Blaise grinned, "You look great. Now go dance with Draco."

"What?" the two of them asked as Natalie shook her head at her son's bluntness.

"C'mon!" Blaise pouted, "Please?"

"That doesn't work on me, Zabini," Draco frowned.

"Oh don't worry, he's going to be too distracted to care what you two do," Natalie grinned before turning away, towards the doorway, "Blaise, go greet the guest."

"Why should I? It's Madge's party. And Draco's how-many-greats grandmother's."

"Because you might actually like this guest," Natalie smiled, "Hermione and Draco told me so."

Blaise arched and eyebrow while the two other teenagers grinned at each other.

"Hermione!" a dreamy voice said before hugging her, "You look amazing!"

"Hey Luna!" Hermione grinned at Blaise's expression, "Thanks, so do you!"

Luna pulled back, revealing an off-shoulder pale blue dress, white feather earrings dangling and tickling her jaw.

"Hi Draco, hey Blaise," she smiled slightly, "Anything new?"

"Mmm," Draco hummed, smirking over at Blaise, "Blaise seems to have lost the ability to speak. What was that Muggle saying, Hermione? Something about a cat."

"The cat has his tongue," she offered.

Luna's eyebrows furrowed before she turned to look at Blaise, "Well, is the tongue still in your mouth with a very tiny cat clinging to it, or did the cat cut it out?"

Blaise grinned as Hermione and Draco exchanged glances and Natalie inched away.

"Nah, I'm cool," Blaise said, "So what's new with you, Luna?"

"Oh, nothing much," she shrugged, "The only exciting thing that happened this summer was getting pulled over by the law enforcements in a car when we visited Hermione and Draco."

Blaise immediately looked over at the two, "Oh really? Who was driving?"

"Hermione," Luna said, as if it was a simple answer. Blaise's eyebrows shot up as Hermione grimaced.

"You drove a _car_? Don't you have to be sixteen? You're fifteen, right? And you got caught? Driving a car underage? And got away with it?"

"Yes," Luna smiled as Hermione hid her face behind Draco's shoulder, "Quite fun. She lied and said she was Rowena Ravenclaw, and that Harry was her brother, and that Draco was her boyfriend and that I was his sister."

"Wow," Blaise said, turning back to Luna, "Mind telling me more?"

"Not at all!" she smiled before leading him through the crowd, both of them ignoring the other two people.

"Don't worry," Draco smiled at Hermione over his shoulder, "They're gone."

"Good," she frowned as she stepped out from behind him, "So…?"

"Umm…we could – oh crap," Draco grimaced over her head, "Hide me!" He then ducked down behind her, having to fold himself to stay hidden.

"Draco, what are you - ?" Hermione asked, blinking as he held her shoulder to keep her there.

"Draco Malfoy, are you hiding from me? On my birthday?" a woman's voice asked, sounding aged as slow footsteps walked towards them.

"What?" Draco popped his head up, "Oh, hi Grandmother! I didn't see you! What was it, you were saying?" His arm wrapped around Hermione's waist, locking her there in front of him.

"I said," she frowned as she got closer, "Were you hiding from me?"

"What, me?" Draco's eyebrows went up, "Psssht, why would I ever do that?"

Her grey hair was pinned up into a bun, but her eyes were intelligent as she surveyed him. She had on green and purple robes and a slightly grandmother-ish aura was around her.

"Please," Hermione said, tugging on his arm, "I'm just an innocent bystander. Draco, let _go_!"

"No!" he frowned, "Now quit struggling, Granger, you're going to make my arm red."

Hermione huffed and elbowed him in the stomach, making him wince and glare at the top of her head. His great grandmother, however, caught this and smirked in amusement at them.

"Draco, are you going to introduce me to this young lady?" she asked.

"Hmm? What young lady?" Draco asked as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"My name is Hermione Granger," she told her, "And I would shake your hand right now but – Draco, for Merlin's sake, let _go!_"

"_No!_" he said stubbornly, wrapping the other arm around her waist tightly.

_What the crap is he doing?_ she thought before grinning sheepishly up at his great grandmother. She just smiled as if she knew something that she didn't.

"Oohhh, Draco!" Sylvia grinned as she passed by, "Hiding from her, are you?"

"No," Draco frowned at her, making her twirl around and arch an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? So, you just felt like hugging Hermione?"

"Errr…no…"

"Well then what're you doing? Hiding or hugging?"

"I…I'm cold. She's warm. End of story."

"What?" Hermione asked, tilting her head up to him as Sylvia walked away, "Its summer, Draco. And what would you be hiding from anyway?"

"Oh," his great grandmother grinned, "You'll see. Draco, come here and hug your great grandmother."

"I'd," he said slowly, "I'd rather not."

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, get over here and hug me," she frowned.

Draco winced and let go of Hermione, walking over to her. Before he could wrap his arms around the woman, she reached over to his face and began to pinch his cheeks. Draco groaned and looked up at the ceiling, his cheeks getting a pink tint either from the embarrassment or from the pain.

"This, Hermione," his great grandmother winked over at her, "This is why he was hiding. Isn't that right, my little Draco?"

"I refuse to answer," Draco said, avoiding Hermione's eyes.

"Anyway, now that that's done," she wiped her hands, smiling at Hermione, "My name is Edna. You may call me this, but Draco is forced to call me 'grandmother'."

"Don't you have – you know – other people to talk to?" Draco asked, rubbing his face and glaring slightly at her, "Being your birthday and all?"

"Oh, yes, but remember – you can't get rid of me this easily!" she said as she disappeared into the crowd.

Draco finally looked over to Hermione, only to find that she had a very funny looking smile on her face. One that would turn into something if he didn't stop it soon.

"Shut up," he snapped.

A giggle escaped, "I didn't say anything."

"Alright, let me say it then. All the female members of my family like to pinch my face. They have since I can remember. It embarrasses the crap out of me and yes – even in front of a Gryffindor. Happy?"

She arched an eyebrow, "Not what I was going to say, but okay."

His eyebrows went down, "Well then what were you going to say?"

She giggled again, "You hugged me."

"It wasn't a hug," he frowned, although redness returned to his face.

"It was a hug," she giggled, "Totally a hug. I am telling the entire school that you hugged me."

His mouth flew open, "Why?"

"Because," she grinned up at him, as if it were all of the answer she needed. She then gasped the same time a song came up and Madge popped in.

"Oh-my-Merlin!" Madge inhaled, "I love this song! Sing with me Mione! Please!"

Hermione laughed and nodded before she and the little girl both took deep breaths and began to sing, "_I'm so glad you made time to see me. How's life, tell me how's your family? I haven't seen them in a whi-i-ile. You've been good, busier than ever. Our small talk, work and the weather. Your guard is up and I know why-y-y._"

"I love this song so much," Madge told Draco with a simple smile on her face before looking back to Hermione, "You have such a nice singing voice. You need to come play with me and my friends soon, okay?"

She nodded and smiled, still humming the song to herself. Madge giggled before dashing off with a blonde headed girl.

"So…you sing?" Draco asked.

"Hm?" she asked, blinking as if he had just pulled her out of a thought, "Oh, that? Pssshhtt…I did choir, and Alicia wanted to start a band or something. Silly, I think."

"Why?" he asked with a simple, innocent smile on his face, "She's right, you have a beautiful singing voice."

_She didn't say beautiful, but alright,_ Hermione thought as she smiled and blushed slightly at his compliment. "Thank you."

There was a comfortable silence and soon the song was over, a very slow one replacing it. The younger kids quickly ran off into the shadows, Luna and Blaise still nowhere to be seen. And then Draco did something very unDraco-like.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her.

She blinked in surprise, "Draco, this is a slow song."

"So?" he arched an eyebrow at her, "Does it matter?"

She thought for a moment before deciding that no, it didn't matter. He reached over and grabbed her waist, gently this time, bringing her closer to him. Merlin, he smelled good. She had an impulse to lay her head on his shoulder, but she refrained. And then they started to sing the words.

"_Kiss me out of the bearded barley, nightly, beside the green, green grass. Swing, swing, swing the spinning step, you wear those shoes and I will wear that dress." _

Oh crap. She knew that song. She had loved that song, in fact, until that very moment it decided to show up. But Draco kept dancing with her, like he wasn't even listening to the words.

"_Oh-oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight, lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand, strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon sparkling. So kiss me."_

"Hmm," Draco hummed, "Strange coincidence." She looked up at him, capturing his attention. "Something wrong?" he asked, a little too innocently.

_Uh, chyeah. You're making my heart beat ten times faster and I don't know why or how_, she kept to herself. "No. Why?"

"_Kiss me down by the broken tree house; swing me up on its hanging tire. Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat, we'll take the trail marked on your father's map."_

"Mm, no reason. You just seem at war with yourself is all," he shrugged. "Thought you might like to tell me."

"_Oh-oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight, lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand, strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon sparkling. So kiss me."_

"Well, I don't," she frowned slightly before realizing her mistake. She had just admitted that she had been at war with herself. Curse him.

Draco arched an eyebrow and smirked, catching her, "It wouldn't have anything to do with us, slowly dancing to a song titled 'Kiss Me', now would it?"

Her blush just confirmed his answer, making him chuckle.

"_Kiss me, beneath the milky twilight-"_

"What are you thinking, Hermione?" he whispered, his grey eyes piercing her brown ones.

"_-lead me out on the moonlit floor, lift your open hand, strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon sparkling-"_

"I'm thinking," she whispered back, never breaking the eye contact with him even though her heart was pounding, "That I want you to – "

_**"****-Kiss me."**_

He was slow. At least, that was what it seemed like. But when his lips touched hers, it seemed worth it. It felt nice, him being that close to her, touching her like this. It felt right. Maybe even natural. Although the only person she'd ever kissed before Draco was Krum, but he hadn't even been able to say her name right. But Draco was different. Draco was Draco.

It felt like forever before they broke apart, and his heart dropped a little when they did. But he needed to breathe. And he needed to see her reaction. Her eyelids fluttered open, staring up at him. What emotions were swirling in there? Did she feel anything? He opened his mouth to speak, but was drowned out by a startled scream. He whirled around, his heart plummeting into his stomach as he started to back Hermione away from them.

"Well," said one Deatheater, possibly the leader of the group standing before them, "A party. And we weren't invited."

Madge soon joined them, standing behind Hermione's dress but her eyes peeking out, shining in fear. Blaise sneaked over to them, hiding his little sister behind his leg.

"I told Luna to leave," he whispered to Draco, "We need to get Hermione out of here."

The slight downward tilt of his head was seen, his hand wrapping around Hermione's as he tried to pass her off to Blaise.

"I heard there was a little mudblood here," the leader said, scanning over the crowd and finally stopping on Hermione, "Ahh. And we just found her." Before anyone could stop him, he reached over and grabbed Hermione by the arm, tugging her out into the center. She looked around, watching as many of the faces turned to disgust. She glanced over at Draco and Blaise, Blaise's hand clamped firmly around Draco's arm. Narcissa was next to catch her eye, looking frightened for her.

"Humph," the Deatheater grunted before yanking a few pins out of her hair. It hurt, but she kept the cry of pain in. She wasn't going to give them anything, certainly not the satisfaction of knowing she was in pain. Hair fell into her eyes, but she didn't dare move to brush it away. "D'you think a few bobby pins will make you better than what you are, Mudblood? D'you think that you would amount to anything besides the dirt underneath our feet?"

"Well," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I was hoping to get promoted to top-of-the-shoe dirt, but now that that dream's crushed I guess all I can settle for is the gum that won't come out of the sole of the heel." She got a few nervous chuckles and a very dark glare coming from the man standing before her.

"Funny one, aren't you?" he growled before quickly striking her across the face, making her blink and taste blood. She had bitten the inside of her cheek, and hard too. "We'll wipe the smile off your face quick. _Cru-!"_

"_HERMIONE!_"

"_P__ETRIFICUS__ T__OTALUS!"_

"_NO, DON'T!"_

* * *

**St. Mungo's**

"Oh Blaise…" Hermione sighed, "Why on earth did he do that?"

There was silence as eyes fluttered open. They went over to the girl with the messed up hair, a few scars across her bare arms and blood slowly dribbling out of her mouth, although she looked more upset about the boy in the bed at St. Mungo's.

Draco blinked and looked over at Blaise, who was trying to keep his eyes open.

"_Blaise!_" he exclaimed loudly, making Hermione jump and turn to the boy in question.

"Oh, Blaise, you're awake!" she said happily.

"Pfft, what is this?" Blaise said weakly, making an annoyed face, "Only two came to my Pity Party? What kind of crap is that? Whoever forgot to mail the other invitations, they're fired."

Hermione sighed, frowning at him, "Blaise, this is no time to joke around."

"Actually," he said as he lifted himself up slightly, "I heard laughter was the best medicine. Ha ha, ha-ha-ha ha."

Draco shook his head sadly, silently telling Hermione that it was no use, "Your mum, my mum and Madge are down at the cafeteria."

"Ah. Well, five's not such a bad turn out. I can live with it. Now, does anybody remember what happened to me?"

Hermione's lower lip quivered, "Somebody 'Crucio'ed you. You blacked out before Natalie got a wand."

"Hmm," Blaise hummed as he rubbed an area between his chest and shoulder, "Could be why I feel like I went through a meat grinder…But what happened to you guys?"

Draco sighed and held up an icepack from his right hand and put it on the back of his head, "Well, let's see. After you blacked out, I got into a fist-fight with some idiot Deatheater who didn't bring a wand."

"But you had yours," Blaise frowned, "I had to stop you from killing that guy, remember?"

He shrugged slightly, "Gave it to Mione. After that it was like a wand-for-all. Wands would fly there; you'd grab one, use it, then get tripped up and lose it. Rinse and repeat."

"I told you to keep it," Hermione glared at him.

"And let you get killed? No thanks."

She sighed, "I got into a fight with somebody who liked to use a nonverbal cutting spell. I finally just gave up and yanked a platter off a table and chunked it at him."

Blaise grinned at her before sighing, "We're getting expelled, aren't we?"

Hermione whimpered and dropped her arms and head onto the edge of his bed as Draco closed his eyes and frowned.

"Maybe not," Luna said from the doorway, making everybody look up at her, "I mean, you were attacked."

"Uhh, Hermione was attacked," Draco frowned, "We have to see how this is going to hold up in court. That's what they'll say."

Hermione laid her arms back down on the bed, perching her chin on there and staring out in front of her. After a few minutes of Luna and Blaise talking, she looked over at Draco, who was watching her. He smiled slightly, like if he knew a way he could help her, he would've done it in a heartbeat. She stared back at him before sitting up and opening her mouth.

"Luna…I'm…I don't know what to do," she admitted, "I just want to crawl into bed and pretend that the day hasn't even started yet."

Luna nodded, walking over to her and putting an arm around her shoulder, "Just relax Hermione. We'll fix it. I mean, if two Slytherins, a Ravenclaw and the brightest witch of our age can't come up with something to help us out of court, then the world is soon to end anyway, right?"

There were a few unenthusiastic chuckles, even though Luna was smiling as if that joke had been hilarious.

* * *

…**Hey. You wanted them to kiss. I made them kiss. You're welcome.**

**Taylor Swift owns "Back to December" and Sixpence None the Richer owns "Kiss Me."**

**Anyway, I have a little announcement to make. I want YOU, the reader, to writer a letter to ANYBODY in the story. Even me! 'Cause, hey, I'm important too ya know. It must be at least 5-7 complete sentences, and you can sign it with your real first name, fake first name, username. Whatever makes you happy. Oh, and, uh, they've gotta be in before I type up the next chapter. ;) On your marks, get set – GO!**


	14. Letters of Love

"Okay, so, I want to thank everyone who wrote for…well, you know, writing," Ren grinned as Blaise appeared behind her, trying to see what she was seeing.

"Who're you talking to?" he asked.

"Shush," Hermione told him as she brought in a box filled with letters, "Here's your review box, Ren."

"Great, thanks," Ren grinned before sticking a hand in it, only to bring it back out, "OUCH! PAPERCUT!"

Hermione sighed, grabbing one from the top and handing it to her.

"I have the feeling Mione's going to be the only sane one here," Blaise mused before jumping onto the couch.

"Ohh, this one's for Malfoy. DRACOOO! YOU HAVE A LETTEEEERRRR!" the fourteen-year-old screamed.

"I am right here!" Draco screamed back from the doorway, "Just read it for me."

"Ooooh-kay," she said slowly before clearing her throat, _"Dear Draco Malfoy, Marry me. Love, Rayne."_

Draco arched an eyebrow at her, "Is that _really_ what it said?"

"Yes! I'm not even kidding! Lookit!" she waved the paper in his face, "It totally says it!"

"No, I'm not going to marry anybody. Do I look like the marrying type?"

"Weelllll," Ren and Blaise said before Draco silenced them with a glare.

Hermione sighed, "Yup, I'm going to be the sane one."

"Oh hey, here's three from one person. Way to go, Overachiever!" Blaise grinned before looking at the letters.

* * *

_Dear Adam and Julia,_

_Can you both come to me on May 21st and do my hair and make up for prom? You made Hermione look unrecognizable, and that is how I want to look! Please? Pretty please? I'm getting my dress handmade (I think... we're in discussions about it right now, lady is trying to find a pattern and fabric). Well, yeah. So let me know._

_Nekole_

_Dear Lucius.._

_I love you, stop being a meaniehead._

_Kay? Thanks, Bye._

_Dear Prof. Snape,_

_I love you too. You me and Lucius would make an awesome pairing, don't you think? yes? Kay! Yay!_

_Colie._

* * *

"They're on their way, Nekole!" Ren beamed, "Although whether they find you or not is the question…."

"Wait…" Draco frowned slightly, "Does she know that my father is, like, you know, currently married?"

"Pffft, forget that. What does she mean by 'you me and Lucius'?" Blaise asked.

"PERVERT!" Hermione and Ren screamed, all three of them throwing pillows at him.

"It was just a question!" Blaise screamed back, "You people take things the wrong way!" Hermione rolled her eyes as Ren sat down next to the box.

"'Nother letter for Malfoy," Ren said, only glancing at it dully before handing it up to him.

He opened it up and his eyes widened as he began to read.

* * *

_Dear Draco,_

_Thank you for finally putting Hermione, Blaise, the other characters and all of us readers out of our misery! I am very glad you and Hermione finally kissed, although I wish it would have happened earlier. You two are perfect for each other. Maybe you should listen to Blaise more often, huh?_

_Love,_

_Monica_

_P.S. Don't give up on her after the ne kiss. It would break her heart(and mine)._

* * *

He blinked before frowning and stuffing the letter in his pocket, "I'm never going to listen to Blaise more often. That was just a one time, accidental…_thing_ that he happened to be right about."

"What?" Blaise asked, his head popping up from looking at a letter, "I was right about something? What! What is it, Man! TELL ME, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, TELL ME!"

Hermione sighed, "Blaise, shut up. You're giving us all headaches."

"One for you!" Ren grinned, handing her a piece of paper. She blinked and took it.

* * *

_Dear Hermione,_

_If you and Draco were to be together and get married etc, what do you think your kids would look like? I suppose they'd have highlights in their hair and have beautiful mixed colored eyes, but your DNA matters, lol. I love reading you guys's pairings and I will keep reading them till I die, which will probably be 98 years from now, excluding the retarded 2012 theory._

_Thank you for reading this,_

_Your Reviewer,_

_Serenity Daemeon_

* * *

Hermione blinked at the paper before mumbling, "Ummm…I dunno…It's not like I can tell or anything. HEY WAIT. That's not gonna happen!"

"What? The whole 2012 thing? Yeah, I think that's stupid too," Ren said before grinning up at her, "And, yeah, I read it. THANKS SERENITY DAEMEON FOR EMBARRASSING HERMIONE!"

"What'd it say?" Blaise asked before leaping towards Hermione, who threw the letter into the fire in a moment of panic.

"Hermione!" Ren gasped, "You burned their letter! Do you know how rude that is?"

"One for Madge!" Hermione said in a high pitched voice. Draco arched an eyebrow at her as the little girl came running in.

"Yah?" she asked.

"You've got a letter, Kid," Blaise told her.

She stared dully at him before asking, "They do know I can't read, right?"

"Hmmm, good point," Blaise said before picking her up and sitting her in his lap, holding the letter in front of both of them.

"_Dear Madge,_

_Sorry your party was ruined by the bad guys. its not fair! you were turning 5! It was a big birthday! I had a great time before all the bad things happened. you really know how to have a party! Best wishes to you and your family, hopefully you have a better birthday party next year or a better birthday party this year to make up for the bad event that happened in the middle of your fantastical birthday!_

_edwardsoneandonlylove :D."_

Madge gasped loudly before looking up at her brother, "They're right! I can totally get another party! Thanks Edward's Love, whoever you are!" She then jumped up from her brother's lap, running through the room.

"Yeah, thanks," Blaise mumbled.

"Hey, they wrote one to you, too," Draco said, handing him the letter.

* * *

_Blaise,_

_Way to be a hero. Any woman would be lucky to be with you, and every other person would be lucky to even be your friend. Hope you get better soon! you are a very important characher, and Hermione and Draco and Luna need you. You need to be there for youse sister as well! You are hilarious as well and make the world seem like a good place and life shine even in the darkest of really are something Blaisey! Good Luck with everything. Best wishes,_

_edwardsoneandonlylove :D_

_PS I was really hoping you'd form a plan to get Draco and Hermione together, by making Draco jealous, and forming the plan with Hermione, where Draco would walk in on you to "flirting, which would make Draco extrememly jealous, and take Hermione away from you and reveal his hidden feelings to Hermione, and showing himself how he really feels for Hermione!_

* * *

Blaise grinned, "Thanks. Glad I make the world go 'round. And that had actually been my plan if they continue to act this way for another week, but now that everyone knows it…Oh, and I'm feeling pretty good. They let me out of Mungo's a few days earlier, so…."

"Dracoooo, you have another oooone!" Ren sang, holding a letter up to him, "Why do you get all the mail?"

He rolled his eyes, examining the letter.

* * *

_Draco,_

_Way to go man! Step one of your plan was a success, you made your first move on Hermione without being an arse! You were a complete gentleman! (: Too bad those dumb deatheaters came and had to ruin everything, ugh! Well this just gives you an even better reason to stay close to Hermione, you must protect her! You all must think of a way to help yourselves with the whole maybe hearing. Someone was attacking Hermione, Dumbledore made it clear you two were supposed to take care of each other when in the others household, so there you have it, you were protecting her, which is similar to her protecting herself! If you didn't stick in, a lot more bad would've happened, many innocent lives may have been lost! Good Luck with everything, Best wishes,_

_edwardsoneandonlylove :D_

* * *

Draco arched an eyebrow, a faint smirk on his face before stuffing that letter into his pocket, "No comment."

"One to Hermione," Ren sighed, handing it over to her, "I feel so unloved right now."

Blaise rolled his eyes as Hermione began to read her letter.

* * *

_Dear Hermione,_

_You are the brightest witch of your age, surely you can think of a way to get out of getting in trouble. Everything is better if you tell the truth. IF you do have a hearing, just let the ministry know how you were attacked, and the reason everyone else there used magic and stuff was because, you were their guest, and an attack on you is an attack on them and they weren't gonna let filthy deatheaters ruin their day and kill someone important to them! Good Luck with everything. And you and Draco are so cute together, don't let anything break you apart! you two belong together, both of you know deep down you weo really facny each other! (: Best of Luck,_

_edwardsoneandonlylove :D_

* * *

"Um…alright…hey, thanks by the way. And our hearing is scheduled for the upcoming Tuesday."

"OH MY GOD, THERE'S ONE FOR ME!" Ren said happily, getting up from the floor and jumping around, "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, FINALLY!"

* * *

_Dear Mischievia SamanthaFenton,_

_Your writing skills for this fanfiction are abolutely superb. Ever detail you have in this story is just perfect, and exactly what the story needs to make it absolutely awesome. Its been 13 chapters through this story, and each chapter I read makes me feel like this is an actual book. Yes, it is that good to me. I love all the action you have in this story, including the romance between certain couples. It is so funny reading this, especially parts Blaise is in, it really makes my day. It's like he is an actual person, and like I can see the scene up close, almost like I'm there, or its in 3D! Again, I love this story. Keep up the great work!_

_Edwardsoneandonlylove :D_

* * *

"Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ren squealed, practically hugging the letter.

"One more for Draco," Blaise frowned before practically shoving the box towards him, "We should've done this in the beginning."

* * *

_Dear Draco,_

_listen believe it or not i am a huge fan kinda well anyway i was wondering a few things and i would love it if you could answer these questions for me;_

_did you meet blaise exactly?_

_2. how long have you been sutdying magic?_

_3. if you could be in any other house besides slytherin which would it be?_

_you could have a younger sibling would it be a sister or brother and would they be older or younger?_

_did you first start to like hermione?_

_6. why do you hate the weasely's_

_7. if you didnt hate the weaselys which would you choose to be your friend?_

_8. why do you hate harry?_

_okay now i know there are a lot of questions and you dont have to answer them all but some answers would be nice._

_Thankyou_

_~Lissa~_

* * *

"One, ummm…when we were ten. Two, since I was…I don't even remember. Three, I'd be in…umm…I don't know. I'll let the Sorting Hat decide that. Four, I'd rather have a sister, older or younger. Five, pssshhhht, _never_," his eyes shifted between Hermione and the letter, "Six, I hate them because Weasley tried to make me eat slugs – and failed miserably, I might add. Seven, the girl Weasel…her name's Ginny, right? Anyway, eight, because…he…ahhh…PASS!"

He quickly reached down into the pile to pull the next one up, which was also for him.

* * *

_Dear Draco Malfoy,_

_Marry me. Now. But if you won't, then at least marry Hermione. Make sure to make me the maid of honor. That is all. But srsly, tho. Marry me._

_Kthxbye._

_Love,_

_thatlilweirdo/Revy_

* * *

"I WON'T MARRY ANYBODY. SERIOUSLY," he frowned before tossing the letter at Ren, "TELL THEM THAT!"

"OH MY GOD, PAPERCUTS!" she screamed at him, holding her arm and shaking it at him, "THEY LIKE ME." She then spotted her name on the next paper and happily grabbed it away, squealing with joy.

* * *

_Dear Mischievia SamanthaFenton,_

_Thank you so much for writing this fanfic! It's so well-written and I'm sure you will be a successful writer someday. Who knows, you may be the next J.K. Rowling! I love you. You're awesome. Srsly._

_Love,_

_thatlilweirdo/Revy_

* * *

"Now you people make me want to become an author. Which is awesome, considering if I'm as good as you people say I am, I won't need to go to college. So I can stick with my original plan and go to art college instead, then illustrate my books. It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT! MWAHAHAHA!"

"Whoa, tone it down a lil', Redhead," Blaise told her, eyeing her warily.

"Another for Dracoooo," Ren sighed sadly, handing a paper over to him.

* * *

_Dear darling Draco,_

_You are amazing. Although you were horrible in the books, in FF, you are great! So, i have one thing to tell you. I'm thinking, that i want you to:_

_Kiss me, too!_

_Haha, Lots of love,_

_Santosh :)_

* * *

Draco sighed in frustration, "I won't kiss anybody, I won't marry anybody, I – "

"HE'S ACTUALLY A ONE-GIRL-AT-A-TIME, LADIES!" Blaise screamed, "AND HE'S OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIALLY TAKEN!"

"Oh my Merlin, Blaise," Ren giggled as she rolled onto her back, her letters clutched in her hand, "I love you so much right now."

"Yeah, according to the way their faces look at a few of these letters," Blaise nodded towards Draco and Hermione, "I just made a few people love me as well."

Draco just glared at them and reached over for another letter before glaring at it darkly.

* * *

_Dear Draco,_

_I wonder if you have realised yet that Hermione is head over heels for you too. If not, allow me to tell you; SHE IS IN LOVE WITH YOU AS MUCH AS YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH HER. And don't try any of that 'I'm not in love with her' crap. Why didn't you stick up for her in front of the Death Eaters?_

_Yours,_

_Hannah Brandon-Abbott_

* * *

He arched an eyebrow at the letter before discretely putting it in his pocket as well.

"What'd it say?" Hermione asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just asking abooouuuuut…liiiife?" he lied.

"Isn't there a Hannah Abbott at Hogwarts? I think there is," Ren mused before grabbing the box and frowning into it, "I bet the rest of them are for Draco. You know, Hermione's family hasn't had one. And they won't. Because – "

* * *

**I'm a butt and bored and I really really really want to update right now so I can get back to the story! Sorry guys! I'll make sure to do this again real soon!**


	15. Here, Here

**Again, than you so much for writing! It lets me know you love me. :) Okay, and, uh, about the hearing. I know some stuff about Muggle courtrooms, since I watch **_**Law & Order**_** and **_**CSI**_** and stuff. But I don't know much about the Wizarding courtrooms.**

* * *

**M**

"Oh Merlin, I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out," Blaise chanted as he rocked back and forth on the couch, his hands in his hair as Draco paced in front of him, "What are we going to do? I've never been to court, have you? Oh Merlin, we're gonna die!"

Hermione slowly walked into the room, as if she were in a daze. Her hair was sticking up in odd places, making Draco freeze and look at it. She sat down on the couch next to Blaise and watched him freak out.

"Can't brush it," she told Draco after a few minutes of him staring at her hair, "It looks kinda like an elephant, doesn't it?"

Draco nodded slowly as a response as Blaise slowly stopped rocking.

"Whatever you do, don't talk. You mess crap up when you're nervous. DO NOT TALK TO MIONE," Blaise told him.

Draco rolled his eyes, as if wondering why else he wouldn't be talking.

"Mione, are you sure you and Luna found every little thing? Everything? At all? Ever?" Blaise asked her nervously, his voice going up a few octaves with anxiety. "OH MY MERLIN, THEY'LL BUTCHER US!"

"Morning everyone!" Luna said happily, stopping right inside the doorway and smiling pleasantly at them all.

"We're gonna die," Blaise whimpered, leaning over onto Hermione, "Aren't we?"

"Of course not!" Luna told him before sitting next to him, making him turn his head towards her, "It's all about the mindset! If you think we're going to die, then we will. But if you think that they're going to be totally sympathetic for us, then they will!"

Draco opened his mouth to tell her what a stupid idea that was, but Hermione waved her hand and pinched the fingers together, telling him to shut up. He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Like I would listen to you, Mudblo-" he froze and snapped his head over to Hermione, who was gaping back at him. Blaise was groaning and burying his face in a pillow, muttering to himself as Luna watched Draco's mouth open and close repeatedly.

"Hermione, I am so sorry," he finally said, "I didn't – it was – I didn't mean to!"

She shrugged, muttering 'fine', but her lower lip stuck out slightly and she wouldn't look at him for a while. He had almost called her the 'M' word. It was still programmed into him. What had she been thinking, that he had changed at all? Maybe on the outside, but the inside was pure Malfoy. And not in the good way.

"-a horrid person!" Blaise finished. Whoa. When did he start talking?

"I didn't _mean_ to, it slipped out!" Draco snapped back, "I mean – the hair, it…first year and…aaaaaggggggh, somebody's poking me in the back!"

"Hey Kid," Blaise said dully as Madge stuck her tongue out at Draco, "Poke him harder."

"Mkay!" Madge said happily, bringing up her hand to poke him in the back again, only he stepped away. The little girl rolled her eyes and walked away, Draco frowning before he turned back to Hermione.

"Listen, Hermione, I – urgh, Madge!"

"What? That wasn't me," Madge said. It was true. She was now over on the other side of the room, flapping her arms slowly. He turned around and glared at Luna, who had gotten out her wand and was poking him in the small of the back. She looked up innocently at him, bringing her wand back to her before going over and waving it around in his face.

"Listen Draco – I totally understand how bad you feel for nearly calling her that. And I totally get why you feel bad about it. It's just that you don't get it yet. Anyway, we don't have enough time for you to apologize – because let's face it, you've got a lot to apologize for and we don't have that much time."

"OH MY MERLIN!" Blaise cried before slumping on the person closest to him. Hermione. "We're dead!"

"You have an excellent case," Luna told him, "If you three get expelled, we can sue the Minsitry for discrimination."

"Discrimination?" Draco asked.

"If they kick us out 'cause of the whole 'blood status' thing, I'm going to end up in Azkaban then," Blaise frowned before actually wrapping his arms around Hermione, startling her, "Draco was an idiot to treat Hermione like that."

"What about you?" Draco frowned.

"ME? I didn't do anything! You were the one being all 'Granger this' and 'Granger that.' You know, in some places of the world, that's called an infatuation."

"We've got the hearing!" Natalie hissed at them before handing Madge off to Narcissa, waving the teenagers out of the room.

"The defendants, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Hermione Granger are on trail for illegal use of magic," said Fudge before eyeing Luna, "Who're you?"

"I am Miss Luna Lovegood," she said politely, "I'm their attorney."

"Err…do you have a license?"

"Well obviously not. I'm only turning fifteen in May," she rolled her eyes as Blaise stood up from his seat in the middle, pulling the chair back and then grabbing Hermione's and moving her to the middle, shocking Hermione and Draco.

"Then you cannot act as their attorney," Fudge continued.

"Well, Beatrice Silvertongue doesn't have a license either, I know for a fact," Luna told him, glancing over at the young woman perched coolly on the edge of the other table, "She _just_ graduated from Hogwarts. So if she can be an attorney, why can't I?"

The Minister of Magic sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before waving has hand, allowing her to do this, "If the defendants think its okay…."

"Thank you," Luna smiled before walking over to sit next to Blaise. Hermione and Draco finally realized why he had moved Hermione. Oh yes, this was definitely going into Draco's arsenal.

Miss Silvertongue strutted back and forth in front of the desks. She finally stopped in front of their table and smirked. She had very long blonde hair, the ends of it twirling up. Her bangs were held back by a black headband and she had on a short sleeved button up white shirt, with a black knee length skirt and heels.

"I'd like to call Mister Blaise Zabini to the stand," she said. Blaise shot a look over at the others before getting up and going to sit on the chair next to Fudge. He was stopped, however, by the bailiff holding a book in front of him, instructing him to place his hand on the book and take an oath.

"Mister Zabini," Miss Silvertongue said, "Please tell us why Miss Granger was at the party."

"Well," Blaise started dully, "I would answer that if I knew who you were addressing. See, my father isn't here right now, soooo…."

Miss Silvertongue rolled her eyes, "Very well, _Blaise_. Please tell us why _Hermione_ was at the party."

"Madge really liked her, I think she's cool, and duh – somebody had to dance with Draco," he rolled his eyes, "And besides, it'd be pretty rude for us to leave her there. We've got manners, Beany."

"It's _Beatrice_ or _Miss Silvertongue_," she snapped before clearing her throat. "And what happened before the miscreants appeared?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, since when are Death Eaters _miscreants_?" he asked, frowning at all them, "I'll tell you what. I'll give you the whole story. We had just found Hermione in the crowd, we being Draco and I, and then Luna appeared and I went to go talk to her. I look over and see the two of them snogging – Draco and Hermione, I mean – and I really didn't mind because they totally needed it. But then I see the Death Eaters come in and I tell Luna to go. I go over to Draco and Hermione, and Madge turns out to be right behind her. So I try to hide her and get Hermione away at the same time, before it's too late. But the arse grabs Mione and pulls her to the center, calling her a Mudblood and how she'd never amount to anything. She makes a really awesome joke, and I would've laughed really hard if it weren't a really serious situation. Then the, the – the 'guy', let's say, because my sister seems to have sudden interest in what I'm saying right now. Anyway, he's about to 'Crucio' her, and we can't have that, now can we? So I let Draco Body Bind him as I freak out for a millisecond, screaming her name when she tells him not to do it. I finally realized that – hey, I'm a wizard; I've got a freaking wand! So…I got Cruciated and blacked out. Woke up in St. Mungo's…missed all the fun stuff."

"Why did you help her?" Beatrice asked, "According to your classmates, you, Draco and Hermione were never that close."

Blaise arched an eyebrow before glaring darkly at her, "Listen, _Beany_. Mione and Draco are like really good friends now. And I happen to think that she's a really great person and hope that she counts me as a friend. But, even if all of that hadn't happened, we still would've done it. What's Dumbledore always talking about? Inter-House unity, that's what. Two Slytherins helped a Gryffindor, and I think she would've done the same."

"Here, here," a familiar voice said. Everybody twisted and turned to see the Headmaster, standing there and smiling fondly at Blaise, "It seems as though somebody finally paid attention during my speeches."

"Professor!" the teenagers said happily.

Dumbledore smiled to the other students before giving a slight bow, going up to his chair next to Narcissa.

Beatrice frowned, "That will be all, Blaise. Now I call…Miss Hermione Granger to the stand."

Hermione froze before glancing over at Luna, who nodded and smiled innocently at her. She got up and walked to the stand, doing the same oath taking as Blaise before finally sitting down, looking scared out of her mind.

"Miss Granger," Beatrice smirked evilly. "Please, tell us – "

"I told him not to!" Hermione interrupted frantically, "I didn't mean to get singled out and attacked by a Death Eater! I did what I did to protect myself and my friends! And if that gets me kicked out of Hogwarts, then…please don't kick me out of Hogwarts! I'll end up living in a box on the side of the road!" She then put her face to the table that was there, making a high pitched whimper.

Beatrice glanced over at Fudge before quickly telling her that she was done and she could go back and sit down. Hermione nodded and sniffed, going over to her seat and pouting slightly. Luna reached over and rubbed her back, giving her a smile and telling her that it was okay.

"Umm…Draco Malfoy," Beatrice said, looking over at Draco and studying him as if to check if he would burst into tears. Draco got up and lightly put his hand on Hermione's shoulder for a second before going up and doing the same ritual as the other two.

"Why is Hermione staying with you and your family?" Beatrice asked.

"We blew up the Potions classroom," he said coolly.

"Umm…" she looked thrown off, "Could you enlighten us a bit?"

"Sure. See, we had been partnered up for a potion and blew it up. Dumbledore said that it was either a year long detention or staying a month at her house with her and her staying a month at my house with me. We chose the latter, obviously."

"Don't you think that's a bit odd?"

"Don't you think Dumbledore's a bit odd? No offense, Headmaster."

"None taken, I would be insulted if you called me normal," Dumbledore smiled at him.

"And so you stayed a month at her home…"

"Yup."

"A Muggle home."

"Yup."

"With her parents, who are Muggles."

"Well, it wasn't just them. It was also her cousins, Daniel, Alicia and Phillip."

"Who are…?"

"Muggles."

"And you are a Pureblood."

"Yes," he rolled his eyes, "Listen, I see where you're going, and that's a bunch of crap. I've learned that it doesn't matter what blood you've got – it's how you treat others that matters. And she taught me that. And, based on what I just said, ninety-nine percent of Purebloods are – okay Missus Zabini, I see that glare you're giving me. You can stop it now, I'm not going to say it in front of your daughter. Anyway, we treat others like they're lower than us. And we're wrong. Hermione is the smartest person I know. Blaise is the weirdest. Luna is the most…unique. And we're all different. So maybe we should stop labeling each other by blood statuses. And maybe I need to go to St. Mungo's and have my brain examined, because that was completely out of character for me. I'm cracked out on no sleep, okay?"

Beatrice arched an eyebrow before grinning evilly, "Your friend, Blaise, said that you and Hermione kissed. E-"

"_OBJECTION!_" Luna screeched, standing up from her chair and glaring at Beatrice.

"On what grounds?" Fudge asked.

"Relevance! This has nothing that pertains to the case at hand!"

"Yes, it does! I would like to determine the defendants' relationship to discover why they behaved the way they did."

"I'm going to have to allow this, Miss Lovegood," Fudge admitted.

Luna growled and gritted her teeth, clenching and unclenching her fists before spitting out, "_Dragon bogeys!_" There was a muffled giggle from Madge as Luna sat down, slightly fuming.

"What is your relationship with Miss Granger?" Beatrice smirked.

Draco froze, looking past her to Hermione. She was blushing and glancing around nervously before shrugging.

"Uhhh…I dunno," he admitted.

"Was that the first time you two kissed?"

"Uhhhhhmm…."

"Bloody hell! You kissed her earlier and didn't tell me! I hate you!" Blaise exploded.

"_Blaise!_" his mother, Hermione, Luna and Draco snapped. He sunk lower into his seat and glared at Draco, mouthing out "We'll talk later."

"Listen, this is a bit too personal for my liking. Next topic, now, Beany," Draco demanded.

"_Beatrice!_" she hissed before sighing, "No further questions. Now I call to the stand Madge Zabini."

"Whaaaat?" a few people asked.

"Objection!" Luna said.

"On what - ?" Fudge started.

"She just turned five!" Blaise said.

"Five is old enough to tell a story," Fudge decided.

"Son of a banshee!" he spouted before slumping even further in his chair.

"Excuse me?" the Minister asked.

"Uhmm…I didn't mean it?"

"Drakey, help me up!" Madge said once she got to the chair, waving away the bailiff. Draco, being halfway to the table, stopped and turned around to pick her up and put her in the chair.

"Alright Sweetheart," Beatrice said, smiling slightly at the little girl, "What do you remember from your party?"

"I remember a big meanie guy grabbing Mione and ripping pins out from her hair. Then he slapped her and blood came out of her mouth. I was real scared for her. And then he was going to say a spell, but Blaisey yelled and Drakey said a spell and Hermione told him not to. I dunno why though. I thought that spell was supposed to really, really hurt. And then Blaisey got hurt. And then we're here. And then I decided that I don't like you, Beany."

A few people giggled, since the girl was smiling and kicking her heels against the chair as Beatrice's face got incredibly red.

"What? I thought I had to tell the truth," Madge said before humming, "Hey, isn't there a potion that can make us tell the truth? Why not do that instead of the book thingy?"

The bailiff looked from the girl to his book and blinked at it, "Why don't we do that?"

Fudge blinked at her too before telling the jury that they could go into a different room and reach a verdict. Everybody else could have a break while they were waiting.

"Oh my Merlin, Hermione, you were perfect," Luna whispered to her, "Just like we planned!"

"What?" Draco whispered, "You mean that was _planned_? I thought you were actually upset, Granger!"

"I am! I did that last night and Luna told me that I should try repeating that during the hearing," she smiled, "Although I didn't actually cry, that was my idea." She then wrapped her arms around him in an awkward hug, "But thanks for caring."

"The jury has reached a verdict," Fudge announced, getting a letter from the Head Juror. "The defendants have been found…not guilty. They may return to Hogwarts as planned."

Hermione sighed and laid her head on the table, running her hands through her hair. Draco and Blaise high fived while Luna leaned over and talked to Beatrice.

"I mean, we were innocent from the start. You should've known. Don't even understand why there was a hearing in the first place," she said, smiling at the peeved face of Beatrice. But Luna wasn't the object of her peeviness.

"Malfoy," she said darkly, "Your father would be ashamed of you."

Draco stopped and looked towards her, "Oh? And this is supposed to affect me…how?"

"You're going against everything that is expected of you," she continued.

"Weird, I thought that all that was expected of me is to be me. And I only just started doing that, _Beany_," Draco frowned as he turned towards the door, where everybody else was already heading. Once he was out the door, somebody wrapped their arms around his chest, startling him before he saw the still slightly untamed brown hair. He smiled, his mood being brightened a bit to its state after the verdict as he hugged her back.

"I suggest we all go…home and take naps. I haven't been able to sleep since the party," Blaise said, grabbing Madge and perching her on his shoulders. She giggled and began to give him a Mohawk, although he looked as if he didn't care.

"I like that suggestion!" Hermione agreed, pulling away from Draco to grin at him.

"Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger, may I have a quick word?" Dumbledore asked behind them, making them turn their attention back to him.

They responded with nods, following him back into the now empty courtroom.

"I see that my 'assignment' has been working, has it not?" Dumbledore asked after a few minutes.

"I guess," Draco shrugged, "We're not trying to hex each other anymore." Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but…is it working the way you expected it to?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Well…no," she admitted, "It's taking a very different turn from what I expected."

"Yeah," Draco said.

"And have you done what you should've done during the Potion incident about this turn?" Dumbledore asked, leaning towards them and putting his chin in his hand as the students continued to look confused at their Headmaster.

"Which is…?" Draco prompted after moments of silence.

"What should've we done during the incident?" Hermione mused before gasping, "Talk!"

"Exactly," Dumbledore nodded before straightening up and giving short bows to either of them, "Well, I'll leave you to it then. Enjoy the rest of your summer!" He walked out, closing the door carefully behind them.

Draco stared back at the door before turning to her, "Did he mean he wanted us to talk _now_?"

"I…I think so…."

He studied her face. She wasn't going to be the first to say anything. She was waiting for him to say something. He sighed, "Listen, Hermione, about the kiss…I would've talked to you about that then, but…with this whole ordeal…."

She nodded, watching his face twist into uncertainty.

"It's just…I don't know what you think. And…talk, Woman, please!" he finally said.

"I'm…confused," she told him, rubbing her arm and biting her lower lip. "I mean – it's not as if we can just forget the past. But then we can't forget everything that's recently happened either. And then there's the rest of the Slytherins, who probably hate me much more than you and Blaise do. And then there's Ron, who'd blow a fuse, and Ginny…I don't know how Ginny would react, she's weird."

"Who cares what they think?" Draco asked.

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him, "Alright, say we ignore that for right now. What would you want to do?"

He just stared at her for a minute, looking like a deer caught in headlights before wincing and shifting his weight to his other foot, "I dunno."

"Exactly," she sighed, "I told you, I'm confused."

He stared at her for a moment, nodding slowly before saying, "Then this won't help much."

She was about to ask him what he meant when he grabbed her face in his hands, slowly bringing her lips up to his. She blinked before responding back to the kiss, her eyebrows furrowing as she fought with herself.

_Oh my Merlin, he's kissing me again! _

Oh my Merlin, he's kissing me again…

_Who cares what everybody else thinks!_

Me! I care!

_He's nice and sweet whenever he tries not to hide it._

Which is like, never.

_I bet he knew about the song at Madge's party!_

Errr…that sneak!

_Oh shut up, why can't you just be happy?_

Because this is the same Malfoy who made the early years at Hogwarts a living he-

_But he's __**trying **__to make up for it! Just go with it!_

No!

"What?" he asked, pulling back from her slightly and frowning down at her.

She blinked. She had said the last one out loud, which had been possible since he had moved his lips over to her cheekbone.

"Nothing," she said, reaching her arms up around his neck and bringing his head down to hers, "Just arguing with myself at the moment. Carry on."

He grinned slightly before kissing her again, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her closer to him.

* * *

**Because every chapter should end with a Dramione kiss. It's a little known fact!**


	16. not My Fault!

**EDIT (4-9-11) – Hey. My school went skating yesterday and since I haven't been skating in two years, I fell. The second time I fell, I landed on my butt. My left wrist also decided to help out. I have a buckle fracture and I'm getting a cast either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. After that I'll be laid up for 4 weeks. As you can tell, it is extremely hard to type with one hand. And my arm still hurts, so moving at **_**ALL**_** is a pain. I've got to keep it elevated for who knows how long. And then I'll pass it over to Nurse Hermione, Nurse Draco, and Nurse Blaise so it won't seem like one of those "Author's Note Only" chapters.**

* * *

"Okay, so," Hermione said, "She fell on the skating rink, and she couldn't exactly move her wrist."

"Pfft, a nurse," Blaise frowned, "_Girls_ are nurses, not guys."

"Her friends had to take off her skates for her, and then another teacher had to tie her shoes on her feet," Draco said.

"Pffft, what is she, three?" Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Her friend, Melinda, stayed with her when two teachers drove her back to the school," Hermione said, brushing hair from her face, "Good friend, huh?"

"The nurse called her mom and gave her some Tylenol, after Mel texted her mom and told her not to worry," Draco continued.

"They were only there for around twenty minutes, and most of that time was spent waiting for skates," Blaise said.

"But they had to go to an ER, where her and her mom waited for three hours before going to their doctor, who told them to go to a different ER," Hermione sighed.

"She had to get some X-Rays before they told her that she had a buckle fracture, which she _thinks_ is what it's like when you bend a chicken bone and it's not broken yet," Draco rolled his eyes, "So scientific, she'll never be a doctor."

"Hehe, there was a doctor that walked around in a circle before dancing," Blaise giggled, "And he's the guy that looked at her arm!"

"And then she's got to go to an orthopedic between Monday to Wednesday to get it evaluated and get an actual cast," she frowned, "So much work…."

"She's going for blue and she doesn't care what shade. Pffft, Ravenclaws. Green is _such_ a better color," Blaise huffed, "Especially since she's, you know, a ginger."

"She's having a hard time getting up stairs, getting dressed, and she doesn't know how she's going to wash her hair. And she complains that the splint smells funny," Draco smirked slightly.

"She's sorry that she's let you guys down. But she's in a lot of pain, physically and emotionally. This is pretty hard on her, having only one arm," Blaise suddenly grinned, "But don't worry, her cat's taking care of her. She's following her all around the house and then goes and gives her mom updates."

"Oh my Merlin," Hermione suddenly gasped, "She's just getting into Art! This is going to crush her!"

"WWWHHHYYYYYYYYYYY?" somebody suddenly screamed.

"Think it already has," Blaise muttered, "But hey, that girl, Erika, has a cast like hers and she just finished Art."

"And look at the bright side – no more running six laps for gym!" Draco chuckled before Hermione lightly whacked him in the shoulder.

"This is still very hard on her and you know it," she told him.

Draco rolled his eyes, "Dunno why she just doesn't go to St. Mungo's."

"Because she's in freaking _America_. Oh Merlin – why is she sitting there watching Spongebob?" Blaise said before shaking his head, "They don't have a St. Mungo's in America, and she's the only wizard in her family."

"Then how does she go to Hogwarts?" Draco wondered.

"Just like all of the other American students – they get on a plane," Hermione said.

"What's a plane?" the two boys asked.

She sighed, "Anyway, she'll give us updates to tell you whenever something eventful happens. But so far she's been a good little camper."

"Excluding the time when she tried to gnaw off her arm," Blaise joked.

She sent a look over at him as Draco sighed.

"She says not to worry too much, and that if anybody has an extra sling to send it to her. So…it looks like we're on pause for a while. Maybe a chapter during her lay-up time, but don't expect too much. Bye, we'll see ya later."

"Bye! We're sorry!" Hermione frowned.

"Not my fault!" Blaise exclaimed.

"For once," Draco muttered.


	17. A Little Confusion

**Why in the world would I make them get together by the end of this chapter? I would then have no life! Seriously! All I've been thinking about is how to torture them! (Thought of one during the PSSA testing today, actually) Anyway, I'm not giving ay spoilers. I'm just saying that it's going to take a while for me to – oh wait, hold on. My inner voice is telling me to shut up and get to the story. Or it might be you guys. I can never tell.**

**OH MY GOSH. WE HAVE 201 COMMENTS RIGHT NOW. 4-7-11, RIGHT NOW. OH MY GOSH. I LOVE YOU PEOPLE ALL SO MUCH.**

**(As you can tell, a lot of this was written before my accident.) (Like, the day before, apparently.)**

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Draco had been setting up the game whenever he heard it. It was loud and annoyed. It was impossible to miss.

"_AAH!_ MALFOY, WOULD YOU _PLEASE_ COME CONTROL YOUR FRIEND!" Hermione screamed.

Draco sighed and walked towards her room, pushing open the door and seeing Blaise, rubbing his face and frowning at the pile of blankets where Hermione was undoubtedly hiding. He stood in the middle of the room, looking dully at Blaise.

"Let me guess. You tried to wake her up. Now, it wouldn't be that bad if your way of waking people up was standing next to their bed with a creepy face and loud breathing," he frowned.

"Tcht. I just wanted her to play with us. And she hit me!"

Hermione yanked the covers back, her head peeking out and glaring at him sleepily, "For good reasons. One – that was freaky, Blaise! Two – it's storming."

Blaise arched an eyebrow, getting ready to ask what was wrong with a thunder storm when Draco interjected.

"She hates storms," he said, "C'mon Mione – just one quick game and then you can go back to sleep."

She opened an eye that she had closed and sighed, flinging back the covers all the way and sitting up, swinging her legs over the side. She had put on a tank top and shorts for her pajamas and made Draco hand her the hoodie hanging on the knob of the door. She stood up and stretched once she put it on before following them down into the living room. On the table was a board game.

"Clue," she immediately said as she sat down on one side of the table, across from Draco.

"Well, no," Draco said, "Take a closer look."

And so she did. There was the Great Hall, the Library, the Hospital Wing….

"Hogwarts?" she smiled, "You made a Hogwarts board game?"

He shrugged, "It's like a second home."

"We even made people!" Blaise grinned, fanning out cards in front of her, "Pick a card, any card!"

She reached out and picked a card. There was Snape with his nose bigger than his whole body. She barked a laugh before looking between the two of them.

"He's your head of house," she told them.

"So? Does that mean we automatically have to like him?" Blaise asked.

Draco grinned before gasping and reaching over, yanking the cards out of his hands and tearing one up.

"You wouldn't have appreciated that," he said at her inquisitive stare. "That's all I'll say."

"Awww, now we're stuck with Snape, Flitwick and Sprout. Oh, wait, oops…but there's still Dumbledore and a DADA teacher! Ohhh, crap…" Blaise said.

Hermione frowned at both of them before holding her hands out for the cards. Draco sighed and handed them over as she shuffled through them. Flitwick was just a dot. Dumbledore's beard was much too long. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's was just a question mark, which wasn't too bad since the position was always open. Sprout had mandrakes coming out of her ears, although she looked pretty happy about it.

"What was McGonagall's?" she asked dully.

"How'd you know?" Blaise asked her.

"A cat…a very fat cat…I was mad, okay? Gryffindor beat Slytherin in a Quidditch match, alright?" Draco frowned.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Is Quidditch all that matters to boys?"

"Basically," Blaise shrugged.

"What's the big deal about it?"

"Nothing else to do," Draco shrugged as well, "And if you say that we could study, well, I'm not responsible for anything I might say."

"I wasn't going to say that. You could pick up an instrument or…" she frowned at Draco's smug look as he knew she was trying not to say it. "_Write_ a book."

He rolled his eyes as Blaise shuffled the cards under the table.

"Didn't you pick up the guitar? Or was it the piano? Violin or something. Your mum forced you to learn a musical instrument, that's all I remember," Blaise mused.

"Hermione's cousin played the piano. And she used to play the violin or something. You were right on your first guess," Draco told him.

"Oh yeah. You kept burning that thing," he smiled, "And then fixing it so you could burn it again."

"It didn't like me," Draco told Hermione, "It hurt me."

She smiled and shook her head at him, "No pain, no gain."

"What? Who says that?"

"…Everyone. Everyone says that."

"Really?"

"Yes. McGonagall, Snape, everyone except Madame Pomfrey!"

"Mkay," Blaise interrupted, passing out the cards, "It's ready. I call Dumbledore, by the way."

"Snape, I guess," Draco shrugged, grabbing the green piece.

"Umm…Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Hermione shrugged, reaching over and grabbing the white piece as Blaise batted the purple one around.

"Mkay, Mione, you can go first," Blaise said before his piece flew over and hit Draco on the nose. He blinked before looking over and glaring at Blaise as Hermione tried to hide her laugh.

They sat there and played three whole games of the thing because Blaise always wanted to be the murderer. Sometime during those three games, Hermione and Draco had migrated over to the couch and left Blaise on the floor. Draco noticed that she wasn't jumpy at the storm anymore, as she had been during the beginning of the first game. He smiled and watched as Blaise "walked" into the Astronomy Tower.

Hermione screamed a little when the lights went out, but all three of them screamed when a dripping wet figure appeared at the doorway. She had unconsciously wrapped her arms around Draco's neck while he got farther away from it on the couch.

"Geesh, not so loud!" the red head said as she threw back her hood on her cloak at the same time the lights came back on, "Man it's really storming out there, did you know that?"

"Ginny!" Hermione said happily, jumping up and hugging her.

"Mione! Luna and I are kidnapping you, just so you know," Ginny grinned as she hugged her back.

"Luna's here?" Blaise asked, suddenly pulling his interest away from the game.

"Psht, duh," Ginny rolled her eyes, "How do you think I got here?"

"Floo," Draco responded.

"…Ohhh yeeeaaaaah."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Where are we going?"

"Well, we're going to go see _Tangled_, and you're coming with us since you wouldn't take us to go see _The Princess and the Frog_ last year," Luna said as she held out a cloak for Hermione, holding the hood on her blue one.

She rolled her eyes, taking the cloak before going to her room to change.

"Sooo…how was the hearing?" Ginny asked, "I mean, I know that you guys are okay and all, but like what – ?"

"We were abused," Blaise interrupted, "Verbally. I'm filing a complaint. But Mione says I need to send it to the Minister for it to work, and he doesn't read most of his papers."

"Did…did you just call her Mione?" Ginny asked, blinking.

"Yeah. What do you call her?" Blaise asked innocently.

"Mione, but…errr, never mind."

Luna began to hum just then as Hermione walked out with jeans and a t-shirt on, throwing the cloak around her shoulders and fastening the clip.

"I'll be back…" Hermione frowned before looking over at Ginny, "When will I be back?"

"I dunno. See ya!" Ginny called as she dragged Hermione out the door, Luna stopping to wave to them.

There was a silence before Blaise looked up at Draco.

"I just realized. It's boring without Mione."

"Hmm…alright. What do you want me to do about it?" Draco asked.

Blaise jumped up on the couch, frowning at Draco slightly, "I want you to tell me what's going on between you and Mione."

He groaned, "It's complicated, okay, Blaise?"

"No, it's not okay. 'Cause, see, I kinda like Mione. And I hate Pansy. So if things are complicated between you two, I –"

"Whoa, whoa, wait. You're thinking that Mio-errr, Hermione, can replace Pansy?"

"Yeah. Because think about it. Pansy hates Hermione and won't go anywhere near her without you there. And then if you're on Mione's side, we'll get rid of her forever!"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Then she'd have to choose between Potter and Weasley and us."

"So? Why can't they share?"

"Because we're Slytherins. We're despicable people."

Blaise frowned, "No we're not. We're good people. But the majority of us are snobs is all."

"Yeah, well, tell that to the Potter fanclub."

Blaise studied his best friend before looking sympathetic at him, "You really care about her, don't you?"

"What? I don't remember saying that. Ever. At all."

"You meant it. You don't want her to get hurt, do you?"

"Well…no."

"And making her choose between us and them would hurt her, wouldn't it? And you don't want to hurt her."

"…No."

"Then talk to her. And then talk to me. And then talk to my mother. She thinks one of my teeth is wonky and wants a 'dentist' to look at them for another opinion. What's a dentist and why is she taking me to them, Draco?"

"It's a doctor who looks at teeth," he said, grateful for Blaise backing off.

"…Eww."

* * *

**The Burrow**

She sighed, her eyes wanting to open but also wanting to stay closed. She was warm again, but there was no steady breathing or _tha-thump_s to keep her company. She could hear people talking though. Actually, it didn't qualify as talking, it was more like arguing.

"Ron, she can do as she pleases," somebody said. A name struggled through her groggy mind, but she had a distinct picture of her in her mind. Red hair and freckles and a smiling face was what she pictured Ginny as.

"Ron, you know you can't tell her what to do," another somebody said, pictures of green eyes and glasses and a Snitch registering in her mind, "If she wants to stay there, she'll stay there."

"But she can't! He's probably brainwashed her or something!" Food came up for Ron, along with a broomstick.

"Ron, just get _over_ it," Ginny sighed.

"I can't! I hate Malfoy!"

Malfoy. The name made her eyes open as her butterflies in her stomach lurched a little. They were becoming constant, those butterflies, so constant that she was picking out names for them. She was torn between Fredrick and Johnny for Butterfly Number 3.

"_You_ can hate him, but you can't decide Hermione's feelings for her!" Ginny told him before sighing again, no doubt rubbing her temples, "Listen. Zabini was talking about her and – "

"So he's already been spreading lies, has he?"

"Ron, shut up," Harry told him, "Go on, Ginny."

"_Anyway_, Zabini was talking about her and he called her Mione. Mione! The very nickname we – her closest friends – use for her!"

There was silence after that before Ron gave a frustrated growl. Hermione sighed and sat up, stretching as the blanket fell from her shoulders. Mrs. Weasley must've put it on her during the middle of the night. Such a nice woman.

"Morning," Hermione yawned as she walked into the room. Harry smiled up at her as he readjusted his glasses, Ginny and Ron having a staring contest.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking between the two redheads.

Harry sighed, "Where would you rather stay – Malfoy Manor or the Burrow?"

Before she could even think, the words were already coming out of her mouth, "Malfoy Manor."

"WHAT?" Ron screamed as Ginny smiled smugly at him. "_WHY!_"

"For one thing, they don't yell at me when I make a decision," Hermione frowned at Ron, "Secondly, Draco is actually very nice and – "

"You're calling him 'Draco' now?"

"Yes. He calls me 'Hermione' now. And, like I said before, he doesn't yell at me like SOME PEOPLE."

"YELLING. I DUN LIKE IT," George complained as he and Fred walked into the kitchen, both of them in their pajamas and fighting sleepiness as George reached into the freezer and got a tub of icecream.

"We will be mediators in a moment," Fred said as he got two spoons, handing one over to his twin.

"Yeah, we just need fuel," George added.

"There's…coffee over there," Harry said as he and Hermione gave them and each other quizzical looks.

"Yeah, but Mum won't let us have coffee," Fred said, getting a huge spoonful of icecream into his mouth before choking it down and shuddering, George doing the same.

"Alright," George sighed, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, Fred moaning and rubbing his temples, "Ginny…."

Ginny took a deep breath before quickly spouting, "Ron is mad that Hermione likes Draco and wants her to quit associating with him, while Zabini and Malfoy both seem to have taken a liking to her, and then Hermione wants to stay with them, declining Ron's offer to stay at the Burrow."

"Hmm…yes…I CALL MIONE," George suddenly screamed, making Fred blink and sit up.

"No fair," he complained, "I wanted Mione!"

Harry looked up at Ron, who was glowering at his brothers.

"What in the world - ?" Harry began.

"They're pretending to be lawyers," Ginny shrugged.

"Alright, now," George stood up, giving everybody a very serious look, "Hermione Jane – "

"Jean," she corrected.

"Jean – oh hey, why'd ya change it?" He stopped with a frown from her and Ginny before he cleared his throat, "Right. Anyway. I have come to the conclusion that Hermione Jean Granger is in love with Draco sumthin' Malfoy. Case closed, go get me chocolate syrup!"

"I WOULD NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH – "

" - IT BACK, GEORGE, SHE'S NOT A MORON - "

" – MOST RIDICULOUS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF – "

"WE'VE ONLY GOT THE CHOCOLATE POWDER STUFF, THERE'S NO SYRUP."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO SYRUP, GINNY? HOW ELSE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO EAT OUR ICECREAM?"

Harry looked to Hermione, whose face had turned bright red with embarrassment, Ron's face was red as well, although little veins were popping out in his neck, Ginny and George's faces were red from yelling over Hermione and Ron, and Fred's face was red from trying to hold in the laughs. But once he and Harry made eye-contact, that was all over.

Two loud laughs were head, shocking everybody from their yelling spree.

Harry gasped for breath, opening his eyes to find Ginny looking at him amusingly as Hermione and Ron gave him dirty looks.

"I-I…it…hahahaha!" Harry had to laugh again. George was muttering about chocolate powder and syrup. But soon they were all interrupted by crashing in the living room.

"Oof! Oooh, where am I? What did I say?" a familiar sounding voice said.

Hermione blinked, walking out into the room and watching as the person sat on the floor, brushing soot off of him, "Blaise? What're you doing here?"

Blaise looked up at her, his face completely black before a white grin broke through, "Hey, looks like I made it to the right place after all!"

"You didn't answer my question," she said, reaching over to help him up, although she was smiling.

"Hmm?" he asked, trying to brush soot of his shoulder, "Oh, you were late. Like, really late. Draco wouldn't admit it, but he was worried. Thought something got to you. I think I've got a chunk of coal in my ear, would you check?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head as Ginny made her way into the room.

"Err…hey Zabini," she said uncomfortably, looking over at Hermione as if she held the answer. But Hermione only blinked at her.

"Hey…" Blaise squinted at her for a while before finally snapping his fingers, "Ginny! Right? I'm real bad at remembering names so – "

"No, it's Ginny," she said, smiling slightly.

"Really? Awesome! I so rarely remember names, so I'm kinda proud of myself!"

"HA, GINNY WE DID HAVE SYRUP, YOU JUST DIDN'T WANT TO SHARE," Fred exclaimed, bringing his head around the corner to glare at his sister, "Oh, and hey Blaise, we've got a sink in here that you could use. You look like an inverted snowman."

"I do?" Blaise examined himself before sighing, black dust coming out his nose, making Hermione and Ginny fight back giggles.

"Yes, although I would say that you look like a piece of coal yourself," Luna smiled at him as she walked into the room.

Blaise blinked before grinning sheepishly at her, "Yeah, I'm not exactly the…I mean, Floo, it's like…bye." He then walked out of the room into the kitchen to wash off.

"Awwww," Ginny cooed, "Both of my friends are making Slytherins swoon! I'm so proud!"

"Go jump off the Astronomy Tower, Ginny," Hermione grumbled as Luna tilted her head to look at Ginny.

"What are you talking about? I mean, I understand what you said with Hermione – " she said, cut off by Hermione growling.

"You mean you didn't see that?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"See what?"

Even Hermione turned to look at her, "Umm…Luna, you mean you didn't…?"

"Didn't what?" she asked, "Did nargels invade your head, because I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

"Wait…does Blaise always act like that around you?" Ginny asked.

"Yes. Always. Why?"

Hermione and Ginny shared looks as Blaise walked in, still trying to brush soot off his clothes.

"Okay, we kinda need to go. I don't think Rodolfo likes me that much," Blaise said.

"Rodolfo? Don't you mean Ron?" Ginny asked.

"I dunno. You tell me," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I think you mean Ron," Ginny sighed before reaching over to hug Hermione, "Bye Mione. See ya. Don't make me kidnap you again."

"Yeah," Blaise agreed, "You scared your boyfriend, Mione."

"Shut up, Blaise!" she snapped, making Ginny and Blaise both laugh.

"See ya, guys!" Ginny said.

"Whoa, wait, Mione's leaving?" Harry asked, tilting his chair back so his head just peeked around the corner. But he wobbled and quickly fell to the floor, groaning and clutching his side. "Oh, my ribs! I'm in pain!"

"Harry!" Hermione sighed, "You can beat You-Know-Who, sure, no problem, twice in fact, but when it comes to chairs - !"

"Shut up and hug me, Mione!" Harry frowned up at her.

She grinned before helping him up into a standing position, wrapping her arms around his torso briefly before pulling back. She was about to turn to Ron whenever the twins decided they wanted hugs too, sandwiching her in between them. She laughed as Ginny picked up their chocolate syrup bottle, threatening to pour the rest of it down the sink to make them release her.

Ron frowned at her as she stepped towards him, arching an eyebrow at him and holding her arms out.

"Ron," she warily, "Don't be a jerk."

He frowned at her for another minute before sighing and stepping forward to hug her.

"Not a jerk," he mumbled to her.

"Whatever you say, Ron," she rolled her eyes as she walked towards Blaise, grabbing his arm to stop him from saying "Mafloy Manners."

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Draco continued to walk down the hall, pausing briefly outside of Hermione's door before wincing and walking away. He walked to the library and grabbed a random book, not noticing what it said on the front. Once he sat down and opened it up in the middle, he noticed that this was handwritten and had different scratches on it. He flipped it over to the front and saw 'Hermione' written on the front. He turned back to the middle and found the beginning. And what he saw instantly made him smile.

_Kiss me out of the bearded barley - _

"What're you doing?"

He looked up and saw that Hermione was standing there, looking as if he had just killed her puppy and then ate it in front of her. She looked sick, very pale and slightly shaking.

"How much did you read?" she asked.

"Just one line," he said, frowning slightly.

She reached over and grabbed the book from him, closing it and looking intently at him, "What did it say?"

"Just the first line from that song we danced to," he was frowning even more, "Hermione, what's wrong?"

She sighed, "Good…good…"

"What's wrong?" he repeated.

She blinked, as if she suddenly realized that, yes, he was still there, "Uhm…this is…my…diary." The words didn't seem to want to come out.

An eyebrow went up, "Really? Then why didn't you say that it was your diary on the front?"

Her eyebrow went up, "Have you met Ginny? That would be an invitation to read it."

He grinned, "Best friends, huh? They have absolutely no respect for your privacy."

She laughed before sitting down next to him, unconsciously noting that his arm was across the back of the couch. A sudden vision of a cheesy 50's movie played in her head before she shook it away.

"What's the worst thing Blaise has ever done to you?"

"Oh you don't want to know."

"Yes I do," she leaned towards him a little.

He sighed, "Alright. So we were in our third year…"

Draco sighed deeply, opening his eyes to find the room faintly lit by the fading sunlight. Something soft was rubbing against his cheek and when he turned to look he noticed that it was a brown curl. He followed the curl down to the sleeping girl in his arms.

What had happened? He had told her a few stories about some things he and Blaise had done to each other, and during some point she had leaned into his shoulder. And then they both fell asleep.

He looked down at her and noticed that she was still asleep. A few pieces of her hair were falling into her face, creating light shadows on it. She looked peaceful. He focused a little too much on her lips though, which was cured by a few long blinks.

But…he didn't want to move. He didn't want her to leave. He wanted her to stay there with him like that forever.

He looked over and found a blanked, wrapping one arm around her as he grabbed it and put it over them.

He lay there, listening to her breathing and holding her. He hadn't been thinking about their 'outcome' recently. He didn't know how people would react, like Weasel or Pansy. Blaise would be overjoyed, the weirdo.

Pfft, what was this? This wasn't the Draco Malfoy he knew. He wasn't going to decide their future. Hell no. He was a Slytherin. The Gryffindor and her family had changed him.

Draco hummed slightly, quietly enough to not wake Hermione as he twirled one of her curls around before a white smile flashed in the darkness, "Looks like I've got to regain my House status. After all, I _am_ Draco Malfoy…"

* * *

**Uh-oh. Malfoy's thinking. Malfoy should never think. What do **_**you**_** think he means?**

**And I'm sorry for not updating that quick. My mind's been a-drawin' a blank since my accident. It's like when I hit the wood (oh yeah, and I didn't go ice skating as someone had thought), my mind had lost all future plans. I promise I'll try to update quicker, all thought I am not promising that it'll be that fast.**

**Review so I get that warm, fuzzy feeling again!**


	18. Something Slytherin Going On

**Did you know that it actually hurts when your friend does that "Could've had a V8" smack on the side of your head? Yeah, that's what happened today. I'M ONTO YOU CARRIE, YOU DIABOLICAL MASTERMIND, TRYING TO OFF ME SO YOU CAN TAKE MY WAND! WELL IT WON'T HAPPEN! NOPE. NO SIREE.**

**Ahem. Anyway. If you said he was going to do something totally Slytherin-like, you get a cookie in the shape of Draco's face! Yay!**

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

"HAHA, I TOTALLY CAUGHT YOU GUYS THIS TIME!" was what woke both Hermione and Draco. Her eyes bolted open and she sat up slightly, looking into the extremely crazed look Blaise had. Draco was underneath her, his arms wrapped around her waist so she couldn't get away. He looked annoyed at his friend.

"Dude, eight o' clock," Draco muttered, "I don't get up until at least ten. Go away and come back in two hours."

Hermione rolled her eyes, pushing off him slightly to get up, but with a simple tug she was back in his arms.

"No way Granger," he smirked down at her, "You're warm."

" – and nobody but me and Ginny will have seen this coming! MWAHAHAHA!" Blaise cackled, causing the two lounging teens to look up at him with arched eyebrows.

"Were you talking?" Draco asked after a moment of silence.

Blaise huffed, "Yes. Anyway – it's the thirteenth! That's why I got you up at eight!"

Draco groaned, burying his face in a puzzled Hermione's hair, "Whyyyyyyy?"

"What's wrong with the thirteenth and – humph," Hermione tugged at his arms, "Why must you be strong?"

"Quidditch, Love," Draco grinned before snuggling down deeper into the couch, making her sigh.

"We always have water balloon wars and go swimming on the thirteenth," Blaise answered before humming, "Hey, Madge really wants to learn how to swim and you're pretty good at teaching people things, Mione. You want to…?"

"Sure," she gave a frustrated growl, "_If_ Draco lets go of me!"

"Looks like Madge isn't going swimming then," he said, "'Cause I'm not letting go of you any time soon."

"Oh, and, uh," Blaise smiled, "Your aunt Sylvia's here. She's searching for you. You're lucky I found you before she did."

"Now will you let me go?" she asked as Draco froze before he growled slightly and released his hold on her. She sat up and smiled before getting up and stretching.

"Hermione!" Madge cheered as she ran before jumping into her arms, "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Um, I saw you yesterday," she said as the child wrapped her arms around her neck.

"Yeah but that was a bajillion hours ago!" she pouted before beaming again, "Is it true? You're going to teach me how to swim?"

Hermione grinned as Draco rubbed his eye, "Yeah, of course."

"Yay! But can we go slow?" she asked, "I'm still a little scared from when I fell in the river."

"Of course, Sweetie," she smiled before hugging her again.

"See, Draco?" Madge smirked at him, "This is why I like her better than you. She hugs me and calls me Sweetie."

"I've known you longer," Draco frowned.

"Gives her more of a reason to like me better then, isn't it?" Hermione smirked.

He rolled his eyes but said nothing about it, "What time do you guys want to go swimming?"

"In thirty minutes," Blaise said immediately, "AND NOBODY EAT BREAKFAST, I DON'T WANT TO WAIT AN HOUR."

"QUIT YELLING!" Madge and Draco told him.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat Madge down, "I've got a music player and some portable speakers, want me to set it up so we can listen to music while we swim?"

"Oh, we can do that? Awesome, thanks Mione!" Blaise reached over and hugged her, "If you wanna get dressed earlier I can show you where we swim. Mum or Narcissa or both usually watches us though, they're protective, especially after Madge's little incident."

"Oh yes Blaise," Madge rolled her eyes, "I planned on falling in the river and nearly dying."

Blaise sighed, "I didn't mean it like that, Kid."

"It sounded like it!" she pouted before running away, "I'mma go get my flip-flops!"

"Madge, wait, you don't know where your flip-flops are!" Blaise called after her.

"Come help me find them then!" her voice carried down through the hall, making Blaise sigh and look over at the two remaining.

"Okay change of plans," he said, "I'll go help her find her shoes, you get dressed and get the stuff ready, and Draco will show you where we swim instead of me, alright?"

Before she could even answer he walked off, making the two look between each other with arched eyebrows.

"Okay, you go do what he said and I'll go get dressed and try to hunt down the towels. Emphasis on 'try'," Draco said before saluting and walking off.

Hermione sighed before picking up her diary and walking off down the hall, going into her room and dropping the book on her bed and stretching again. She faltered, since she hadn't looked in her closet since Narcissa (and Blaise, apparently) had changed her clothing choices. But that's where she had put her swimsuit before, and she hadn't seen it since then.

She warily eased the closet door open with her foot, poking through the clothes quickly as if somebody were behind it and about to tow her back with them. Once she found a swimsuit, however, she blinked and frowned at it.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me," she said aloud before sighing and reaching forward to take it out of the closet and inspect it further.

The first word that popped into her head to describe the outfit was '_Slytherin_'. It was a green and black diagonally striped two-piece, which was a decent way of saying "somewhat bikini." Her original swimsuit had been a plain black one-piece with gold markings. This one tied behind the neck and on the back, something she didn't appreciate since she was going swimming with two boys. But at least the bottoms resembled something like shorts, although – of course – it was too short to be called that exactly.

She weighed her options. Go in jean shorts and a t-shirt, get t-shirt wet in front of Slytherins, metaphorically die. Go in bikini, lose self-pride.

…She didn't want to die….

She sighed and looked at the shoes lining the floor before grabbing a pair of black flip flops and set about to getting changed.

Once that was done she looked in the mirror and grimaced, "Mum would have a cow." She unconsciously reached forward and got a ponytail holder, tying her hair up so that every time she moved her head, the hair would tickle the back of her neck. She then looked around for her music player and the portable speakers, and once that was done she waited in the sitting room for Draco or Blaise.

After a few minutes she surveyed herself before dropping her head into her hands, covering her face. Something wasn't right here. She was friends with two Slytherins and living with one of them and wearing a bikini. She was currently waiting for Voldemort to pop up and start doing the polka with Hagrid as Professor McGonagall sang "My First Kiss" by 3OH!3. …Eww, bad images. But it would've tied the whole situation together nicely.

"Alright, I've got a few extra towels because, hey – let's face it, we splash innocent bystanders all the time," Draco said before he turned the corner completely, making her tense up as he froze. "What're you…wearing?"

She looked up and saw him arching an eyebrow and looking over her. He had on a light grey t-shirt with green and black swim trunks, many towels wadded up in his hands.

She sighed, grimacing, "Your mum and Blaise haven't switched my closet back to normal."

He smirked, "Ahhh, remind me to thank them."

She blinked. Did he _really_ just say that? Her mouth opened to ask him that when he walked passed her.

"C'mon, the pond isn't that far off," he told her.

She blinked again and shook her head, deciding that she'd never understand him no matter how long she tried, standing up and grabbing her stuff and following him.

They walked a while before stopping before a great big pond. The water was clear as it flowed in from one stream and out from another. Trees shaded the area, and one tree had pink petals that fell into the water every time a light breeze passed.

She looked around before smiling slightly, finding a place to put the speakers that was well out of splashing zone. She sat them down and began to work, connecting her music player and then deciding on which playlist to use. As she was doing this, she felt a pair of eyes trained on her, to the point where it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Malfoy, if you don't quit staring - " she started as she turned around before he cut her off.

"Me? Stare? Oh, never," he said, although he was grinning as he said this and still staring.

She was opening her mouth to yell at him when something rocketed passed her and into the pond with a very loud splash. They waited a few seconds with shocked blinks as a black haired head popped out of the water.

"MARCO!" he yelled before going back under water.

Draco grinned before running forward and jumping in with him, brushing back his hair from his face when he popped up before going back under water as well.

"Hermione!" Madge said happily, "I'm ready to go swimming!"

She grinned, "Alright, just give me a minute to pick out a song, alright?"

She nodded before going over to the edge of the pond, kicking off her shoes and sticking her feet in. Hermione then turned her attention back to her music player as she tried to remember which songs were okay for Madge to listen to. She was, after all, a teenager. She was interrupted by Madge screaming, making her whirl around to find that Draco was holding her upside down by her stomach, swishing her back and forth so that her hair skimmed the surface of the water.

Madge was giggling as Draco proclaimed that she was now a broom, and a very good one in fact. Hermione rolled her eyes before hitting a button on the music player, making a song spring to life and flow out the speakers.

Madge gasped as she continued to swing upside down, "I love this song too! Who sings it, Mione?"

"Ke$ha," she shrugged before slipping into the water. Draco put Madge down and swam away as Madge walked over to Hermione.

"What's the name of this song, Mione?" Madge asked as she held the underside of her arms, tapping them slightly.

"Umm…'Stephen,' I think," she said before gently laying Madge on her back, "Alright, now, what I want you to do is take a deep breath, then let it out slowly, and repeat."

Madge did as she was told, and soon Hermione took her hands away from her, smiling.

"Good girl, Madge, you're floating!"

"I…am?" she said after a breath.

"Yep," Blaise grinned before glaring and swatting at a petal that had attacked his eye.

"Yay!" Madge sprang up into a standing position, flinging water up with her arms. She then grimaced once she realized that she had splashed Hermione, "Sorry."

She smiled, "It's alright."

For the next thirty minutes they practiced the front stroke and back stroke and opening their eyes under the water. But once Hermione suggested they go in deeper, Madge was suddenly latched to the root of a tree.

"Nooooooo!" the little girl wailed, "Don't make meeeeeeee!"

"Madge, c'mon Sweetie," Hermione said, "You'll have to go in eventually."

"Nuh-uuuuuhhhhhh! Drakeeeeeyyyy, don't let her take meeeeeeee!"

She blinked. Why on earth was she asking Malfoy to come to her rescue?

Draco swam over, crouching down once he got next to Madge so that his shoulders were still submerged. He tilted his head to one side a little, "What's wrong, Madge?"

"I don't wanna go in deepeeeerrrrr!" she responded.

"Why not?"

"I'm scared I'll go under again and never come up!"

"Madge, you know we wouldn't let you drown," he told her.

"I know, but I'm still scared!" she sniffed.

He thought this over before whispering in her ear. Once he pulled back, she sniffed again and nodded. He grinned in response before leaving her and swimming over to Hermione, who was standing back with an eyebrow arched.

"Well?" she asked once he stood up.

"Oh, she won't go in until I do something," he said as he stood up, shivering a little at the wind.

"Well then do it."

He grinned again, "I was hoping you'd say that." As fast as he could he reached over and grabbed her, then shifting her so that she was being carried bridal style.

"Malfoy!" she gasped, "What're you - ?"

He laughed, "Sorry Love, you told me to do it!"

"What? No, I didn't!"

She grabbed onto his shirt as he clumsily made his way out into the deeper end. Blaise had now decided to come back with a popsicle in his mouth and a towel over his shoulders.

He arched an eyebrow and brought the popsicle out so he could speak, "What's going on?"

"I'm going to drop Mione," Draco said simply.

"No you're not!" she frowned at him.

"What was that?" he grinned down at her, "I couldn't quite hear that."

"Malfoy," she glared once he stopped.

He chuckled, "Sorry Love."

"No, no, Draco!"

She was then thrown slightly into the pond, her giving a little shriek before she hit the water. Draco grinned as he brought his hand up to shield himself from the splash.

"That was mean," Blaise told him, although he was smiling slightly.

"I didn't tell you to do _that_!" Madge huffed, stilling holding onto her tree root, "I told you that I'd only feel better if both of you were in the deep end with me!"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been as fun as this," Draco grinned back at her as Hermione's head popped up, blinking and spurting water out of her mouth.

"Now, see, that wasn't that bad," Draco smiled down at her as she glared at him and swam with one arm towards the edge, although it was the one away from Blaise.

She sat down on a rock under water, keeping her chin underneath the water as she worked on something. After a few minutes of her doing this, Draco's curiosity got the better of him.

"What're you doing?" he asked.

She glared at him, her cheeks red, "Well, let's see. My swimsuit top is one that has to be _tied_ and seeing as you just _dropped_ me into the water – "

Blaise choked on his popsicle, Draco's mouth hanging open.

"You mean - ?" he started.

"Yes," she hissed, "And I would greatly appreciate it if you stayed over _there_ as I try to retie this."

He blinked and shook his head before frowning at her, "Mione, just come here and let me do it."

"_No!_"

He rolled his eyes and swam towards her easily, making her sighed when he was already there. He flipped her hair over her shoulder and set to the process of tying the strings around her neck.

"That it?" he asked once he was done.

"Yeah," she mumbled before turning around and smacking him on the arm, "Don't ever throw me into anything ever ever again."

"Yes ma'am," he grinned down at her, "You're short, you know that?"

She frowned at him and would've said more had Madge not interrupted.

"Helloooooooooooo?" she called, "I'm letting go now!"

"Well come on, then!" Draco said, moving around Hermione to catch the little girl as she dog paddled over to him.

She shook her head as she swam over to Blaise, who was sitting at the edge with his popsicle and waving one above his head for her. She sat down next to him and took it, muttering a 'thanks.'

"He isn't always that weird you know," Blaise said after a minute.

"What?"

"Just dropping you in the middle of the pond isn't something he'd do that often. He's like a little boy who's got a crush on a girl. He'll poke and tease and pick on her to show that he likes her. So don't hate him forever now, okay? I actually kinda like you." With that he crumpled up the popsicle wrapper and swam away from her towards his sister.

"Ooookay," she mumbled to herself, "So…Draco's immature? I'd like to learn something I didn't already know, thank you."

She'd never understand Draco Malfoy. And, she decided as she eyed a bucket of water balloons, that it really was more fun not trying to understand him and having him fill in the blanks anyway.

_Blank One:_

_Subject enjoys having water balloons thrown at him in retaliation for being dumped in a pond, yes or no?_

Her money would've been on no.

* * *

**Now, see, here would be an excellent place to end the whole story.**

…**But I've got a soul, thank you. And besides, it would kill me if I couldn't get to the things I thought of for this baby.**

**So, yeah, if you review the next chapter might come sooner!**


	19. Evil Ladybugs Are Evil

**Note to self: think of witty and awesome author's note later…**

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Draco stretched his shoulders out, walking into the living room and stopping when he saw Hermione curled up on one end of the couch. She had found a few of her normal clothes hidden in a hall closet, so she was wearing ripped shorts with a dull blue t-shirt. A book was held off to her side, where her attention currently was.

But, of course, Draco had to change that.

Hermione let out a small shriek as Draco appeared next to her, looking innocently at her as she held the hardback book up to throw at him. She stopped when she saw it was him though, making her frown slightly.

"Morning, Love," he smiled.

She put the book down a little, "I really wish you'd quit calling me that." It had been a week since they had gone swimming, and since then Draco had been taking every chance he could to call her "Love." Sylvia, Blaise, Natalie, Narcissa and even Madge had teased him relentlessly about it, but he'd just smile and roll his eyes and say nothing.

"Why?" he pouted, "Don't you like it when I call you 'Love,' Love?"

"No, I do not," she told him dully.

He just smirked, "Yes you do."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do. You love me. Just admit it and save everybody else the pain and suffering." He reached over and grabbed a piece of her hair to twirl around on his finger. She playfully batted his hand away, hiding her smile with the cover of the book.

"C'mon Mione," he leaned towards her a little and grinned, "Just admit it."

"No," she was still hiding her smile with the book. Draco had been very amusing/annoying the past week. He'd been teasing her and bugging her, but not the way he had at Hogwarts. Like he was trying to get her to laugh. And so far, he had succeeded multiple times, but this he knew none of.

He hummed a little, "Looks like I'm going to have to get it out of you in a different way."

She looked at him warily before he pounced on her, poking and prodding her stomach.

"Ah! Draco!" she laughed as he did, "Draco, please, stop!"

"Admit it then!" he grinned down at her.

"Well," she gasped for a breath, "I can't breathe to talk!"

"You're talking now!"

"Draco!"

"Alright," he removed his hands, but hovered them over her stomach, watching her face warily as she caught her breath.

"Draco Malfoy…" she started, looking up at him.

"Yes?" he grinned. She was really going to say it.

"You are…"

"Uh-huh?"

"…Absolutely adorable," she grinned before taking off as he sat there, confused. But…he thought she was going to say it….

"Adorable?" he repeated before turning his head to look at her with an eyebrow arched. She was holding the book to her mouth, hiding the smile as she waited for his next move. "That's an insult."

"Nuh-uh," she shook her head, "It's a compliment. I think of you as about as cute as Evan."

"Evan's five!"

"Exactly. He's adorable."

Draco frowned at her, "Take it back."

"Nope," she chirped.

"Hermione Granger, take it back."

"Why ever would I?" she smirked at him.

"I'd tickle you again."

"Ooh, don't," she frowned, rubbing her stomach, "You tickle hard."

"You kept moving," he shrugged, "But, anyway, take it back."

"No," she smiled, "I won't take it back and I'll never admit it."

"So there's something to admit?" he grinned as he leaned towards her a little.

She smirked back at him, holding the book behind her back, "Well, you'll just have to figure that out on your own, won't you?"

* * *

**Patricia Granger's Dental Practice**

Patricia sighed as she trumped to the front of the office. She had just finished filling a screaming six-year-old's cavity and was now mentally stressed out. Just as she was about to check the names of who was next, a black haired teenager popped up from the other side of the counter and looked at her with big eyes. She screamed, holding up the clipboard like she was about to hit him. He didn't even flinch.

"Are you Patricia Granger?" he asked.

"Yes," she said warily, lowering the clipboard.

"Are you related to Hermione Granger?"

She blinked, "You know my daughter?"

"Yeah!" he said happily, rising to his full height, "I'm Draco's friend, Blaise!"

"Slyth Soup guy?"

Blaise frowned, "…Yes."

She grinned, "Well, nice to see you again Blaise. What're you doing here?"

"My mum thinks one of my teeth is wonky and wants a look at it," he shrugged.

"Well, you're in luck," she said, looking down at the clipboard, "You're my next patient. C'mon, Blaise."

"Yay," he said before going in the door and following her to a room.

"So how's Hermione?" she asked once he sat down and stared up at the lights.

He grinned like he'd been waiting for her to say that, "Fine. Her boyfriend's keeping her company."

Patricia frowned, "Boyfriend?"

"Draco. Well, they're not official yet, but they have kissed and stuff. More than once, apparently."

She dropped her little hand mirror, making Blaise lean over and ask, "Is that supposed to be on the floor?"

"Hermione Jean Granger, you are _sooo_ dead when you get home," Patricia mumbled, making Blaise lean back up and stare at her with wide eyes again.

"Why?" he asked warily.

"She didn't tell me! Oh yes, much social embarrassment shall come from this!"

Blaise sighed with relief, being glad that Hermione wasn't going to get killed when she got home.

After they had finished the checkup – he'd had perfect teeth, by the way, his mum was just paranoid – they talked for a little while longer since it was over fairly quickly and she didn't want to see a biting seven year old just yet. They actually talked well into her lunch break, when a brown haired girl walked in with a paper bag.

"Aunty Pat, I brought you lunch!" Alicia sang happily as she held out the bag to her, having not yet recognized Blaise, "Mum made that noodle thing you like so much and decided to be nice and give you some."

"Uh-huh," Patricia smirked as she took the bag, "What does she want?"

"Well, _she_ wants you to help plan the reunion. _I_ want my cousin back."

"Now Alicia," Patricia frowned slightly, although there was a secret smile, "You have to share."

"No I don't. Mum always told me to share toys, not people. So none of that applies to me and Mione."

"You're Mione's cousin?" Blaise interrupted.

"Yeah, who're y- oh wait! Slyth Soup Guy!" Alicia grinned.

Blaise groaned, "Why me? Why that?"

"YOU KNOW WHERE MY COUSIN IS!"

"Alicia, dear, not so loud, please," Patricia winced.

"Take me to my sister!" Alicia bounced as she grinned.

"I thought she was your cousin?" he asked.

She faltered, "Er…well…yeah, but…whatever, can you take me to Mione?"

"Ummm…hey, you know where Eli Short Memorial Park is? We can meet you there in forty five minutes."

"WHOOP!" Alicia cheered, "I'LL GO GET MY BROTHERS!" She then ran out the door as Patricia sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, she and Hermione can be so weird sometimes," she said before getting a fork out of the paper bag and opening up a container.

"Hermione? Weird?" Blaise repeated.

"Oh yes," she smiled, "She'll go off and spout quotes from books, and it'll completely confuse us. And one time she got a hold of a pen and wrote all over her arms and legs and feet with random quotes about friendship and love and all of that."

"Really? That's so weird."

"Mmhmm," Patricia agreed, "You might want to get a move on, Alicia's a fast runner."

"Oh right!" Blaise smacked his forehead before running off, "Bye Missus Granger! Thanks for getting my mum off my back!"

She laughed, "Anytime Blaise!"

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

"There is not."

"There is too. You're just hiding it."

"There is nothing to admit so just _drop it!_"

"Not until you admit it!"

"Admit what?"

"That you love me!"

Hermione groaned and glared at him, but he just smirked back at her.

"Alright."

He blinked, "Alright what?"

"I'll admit that I love you like I love…Blaise?"

"_Blaise?_"

Blaise ran into him, making him scream slightly before he pulled him back upright, although he was now bouncing and saying "Mione" repeatedly.

"Blaise, what is it?" Hermione asked.

"YOU GOTTA COME WITH ME," he screamed before taking her hand and attempting to drag her out the door, "SERIOUSLY, RIGHT NOW, YOU GOTTA COME WITH ME."

"Wait, wait, Blaise, I don't have on any shoes," she protested. He stopped and sighed before ordering her to go put on shoes. She rolled her eyes and walked off, making sure to take as long as she could to find shoes.

"What's up?" Draco asked him.

"I met Hermione's cousin at the dentist – her mom was the dentist, by the way – and we've got to get to Eli Short Memorial Park _right now_ so we can see her cousins!"

"All of them? Daniel, Alicia and Phillip?"

"Ummm…I just met the chick," Blaise shrugged, "But she screamed that she was gonna go get her brothers soooooo…."

"Mione, c'mon, we gotta go somewhere _right now!_" Draco called.

"Fine!" she said before came back down the hall, slipping her feet into some flip-flops before following them out the door.

She didn't ask where they were going. She did ask about Blaise's sanity numerous times, especially when he jogged backwards in front of them and told them to move their butts or they were "out of the infantry."

"JUST A FEW MORE STEPS!" Blaise yelled before running off to the park, causing a few mothers to look at him suspiciously and then glance at their children.

"What is _wrong_ with him?" Hermione asked.

Draco shrugged and smiled at her before scanning the park. He grinned and waved an arm over his head once he saw someone.

"Who are you waving at?" she asked before she saw who was running towards her.

"HERMIONE!" Alicia screamed before hugging her, "I MISSED YOU SOOOOOO MUUUUUUUCH!"

"MIONE!" Phillip cheered before latching onto her leg, "I MISSED YOU TOO!"

"Alicia? Phillip!" Hermione blinked before grinning and hugging her cousins back, "Oh my gosh, you're here!"

"Yeah!" Alicia grinned, "I met Slyth Soup Guy – " a groan was heard " – at Aunty Pat's office and he said that we should meet here so we can see you! And here we are! Thank you for bringing me!"

Hermione rolled her eyes before being knocked to the ground. She opened her eyes and cringed at Daniel and his loogie.

"DANIEL GRANGER, GET OFF OF HERMIONE!" Phillip and Alicia screamed.

Daniel slurped the spit back up to his mouth and grinned at Hermione, "Hey Mione! Missed ya!"

She laughed, "Missed you too, Daniel!"

He sat up and pulled her into his lap, "Noooo, I _miiiiiiiissed_ you!"

She laughed again, "I missed you too!"

"Nooo, you _miiiiiiiissed_ me!" He ruffled her hair, "C'mon, say it, you _miiiiiiiissed _me!"

"I _miiiiissed_ you, alright?" she rolled her eyes before Daniel pushed her off his lap and she sat in the grass, grinning up at her cousins, "How have all of you been?"

"Great!" Phillip grinned before jumping down to her, "I hung out with Bernard and Jason last weekend!"

"Awesome," she smiled before looking up at Draco, who was smiling down at her and the scene, "C'mere."

He arched an eyebrow at her, still smiling, "Why?"

"Just c'mon," she said before holding up her hand, "I found a ladybug."

He looked at her funny and took a step back, "A ladybug."

"Yup. Come hold it."

"Aaaahhhh – no thanks."

"Why not?"

"I really don't like them. They feel weird on my skin."

Hermione, Alicia and Daniel dropped their mouths open, while Phillip reached up and took the ladybug from Hermione's hand.

"I'm bringin' home my baby bumblebee," he sang, "Won't my mummy be so proud of me? I'm bringin' home my baby bumblebee – OUCH! It stung me!"

"Umm, that's a ladybug, Squirt," Daniel told him, "Not a bumblebee."

"Tcht," Phillip scoffed, "It _would_ be a bumblebee if you believed, Danny-Boy."

"_Don't call me Danny-Boy!_" Daniel hissed.

Alicia and Hermione smirked at each other before Hermione got up, "What about Danny?"

"No!" he frowned.

"Danny-Panny?" Alicia asked.

"No way!"

"Danny-Panny-Fanny?" Hermione asked.

"No freaking way!"

"Danny-Panny-Fanny-Lanny-Boy?" Phillip asked.

"Shut up!"

The three began to laugh, making Daniel groan and turn to Draco.

"You have no idea," he said, "what it's like to be me in my family."

"Ooh!" Alicia blinked, "Speaking of families, we're having a reunion next Saturday!"

"Uuuuggggghhh, whyyyyy?" Hermione groaned.

"We haven't seen each other in a year," Phillip shrugged.

"I detest reunions," Hermione told Draco, "And it's basically all because of Juliet."

"Uugh," she and Alicia groaned.

"I'm so pretty, I'm so popular, my boyfriend is the star quarterback _and_ the head of the debate team! I get perfect grades on everything! I drown myself in the color pink every morning before I go anywhere!" Alicia said in a high pitched voice before making a disgusted sound.

"Actually," Daniel added, "It's more of a fuchsia color she wears everyday."

"Pink, fuchsia, whatever, all I know is that she's making me hate the color," Hermione frowned.

"Yeah, I just wish, for once, someone could show her up," Alicia said before freezing and looking slowly over at Draco, before giving a very Slytherin-like grin, "Hey Phil? You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

Phillip thought about it before grinning, "Oh yeah, big time."

"Ummm…any clue?" Daniel asked Hermione as Draco began to back away. She shrugged as an answer.

"You should totally come to our reunion!" Alicia and Phillip said together.

"What?" Draco, Daniel and Hermione said, "Are you crazy?"

"It's called a _family_ reunion," Draco said, "I am not your family, so shove off."

"Yeah, but…" Alicia looked over at Hermione, "Mione is."

"Oh goody for you!" Daniel clapped, "Now what's three plus five?"

"Fifteen," Alicia waved him away, "But you and Mione could…_you know_…."

"Pretend we don't," Draco frowned and crossed his arms.

"Oh come on," Alicia said, looking between the three as Phillip played with his ladybug, "You're a boy, she's a girl…do I _really _need to spell it out?"

They looked between each other before Daniel smacked a hand to his forehead, "Blimey, Alicia, that's downright evil! …I'm in."

"In what?" Hermione and Draco asked.

"You and Mione could pretend to date and come to our reunion and show up Juliet!" Phillip said.

"Ummm…no thanks," Draco said after a silence, "I can just sense the outcome, and it does not seem well."

"My Inner Eye believes so too," Hermione stated, blinking her eyes back in her head and touching her forehead and going "ooommmmmm" before saying, "I see much chaos and destruction in our futures should we continue to go forth with this plan."

Draco and Blaise laughed, even though Blaise had just walked towards them.

"What's going on?" he asked once Hermione blinked her eyes back to normal.

"Draco won't come to our reunion to show up or snotty relative," Alicia pouted.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll do it!" Blaise said, jumping up and down with his hand up.

"You will?" everybody asked.

"Hellz ya!" he grinned, "I'll be all 'high-and-mighty' and show up whoever you want me to show up! What does your Inner Eye say about _that_, Mione?"

Hermione rolled her eyes back again and did the same thing as before, "I see much laughter and disappointment in our future should we take this path."

"I'm all for it," Daniel shrugged, "Laughter and disappointment over chaos and destruction any day."

Draco held up his hands in mock-surrender, "Hey, go for it, just keep me out of it. And give me every single detail when you get back."

"Aye-aye!" Alicia grinned before bouncing over to Hermione, "Can you just imagine the look on Juliet's face?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment, watching as Blaise barked at a squirrel, "Trying to breathe as she laughs her lungs out?"

Alicia smacked her, "Shut up, it'll be amazing."

"Freaking hilarious," Daniel muttered to Draco, "Want me to bring my video camera?"

"Yes," Draco grinned.

"THE LADYBUG BIT ME!" Phillip screeched before getting up and running off, swatting at himself as he did.

"Oh _Phillip_," everybody seemed to sigh and shake their heads, except Blaise, who was laughing on the ground.

* * *

**Okay, so I'm leaving the 11****th**** and I won't be back for a while. So I thought I'd write a chapter and tell you guys. Oh, and I went swimming with Reasa, Laine and Bryson on Saturday. I AM NOW TAN. I DON'T WANT TO BE TAN. I WANT TO BE REALLY PALE AGAIN. Seriously, I was almost Voldemort pale. I have color in ma face now. :( Poor me. Anyway, see ya next time on **_**Why Do You People Like This**_**! :D**


	20. Family Reunions Are Eviler Though

**You people have given me great suggestions for how the reunion should go. And then you give me reviews that make me smile. :) You say you like this story 'cause it brightens your day – I like this story's _reviews_ because they brighten _my_ day. **

**I also decided I would try to get this in before I left for Branson. If it's before the 11th of June – I did it! :D If it's not – I tried my best. Honest.**

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Hermione frowned down at the blonde headed Slytherin laying across her bed. His head was pointed towards her and her closet with his legs dangling off the other end. If she had had her hammock, he wouldn't have been able to do that. But she was hammock-less, which was a very great tragedy indeed.

"Malfoy, leave," she said once again, her arms crossed as she frowned.

"So I'm reduced back to 'Malfoy' now, Love?" he asked innocently, although his mouth twitched into a little smirk as he said 'Love' again.

"If you don't leave soon, you'll be 'Malfoy – the Amazing Bouncing Ferret' again," she threatened.

"I just want to help you get ready for your _boyfriend_," he grinned up at her, "Is that so wrong?"

She glared down at him before finally sighing and waving her hand, the signal that she had given up and she didn't care what he did. He grinned wider at her before jumping up gracefully and whirling around to face her.

"Excellent choice, m'lady," he bowed, "Or else I would've bothered you all day. Can't have that, now can we?" He turned to the closet then back at her and pointed at the bed, "Now park it." She sat down on the edge of the bed as he poked through her closet. She then proceeded to lie down on her side and watch him as she hugged her pillow.

"Draco?" she asked after a minute.

"Yeah, Love?" he asked.

Since his back was turned, she allowed the smile she had to hide when he called her that, but briefly.

"Have you been thinking?" she continued.

He stopped and slowly turned around to her to look at her as if she were insane. She blinked when she realized her mistake.

"No! I mean – like – about us," she said, "I know you've been thinking, I mean, duh, it's just that…Okay, you know what? Ignore me."

He smiled and sat down next to her, leaning his arm back and over her, "No, I don't think I will ignore you." He sighed and ran his other hand through his hair, distracting Hermione momentarily, even though that wasn't his intention, "I have, actually. But I don't really think now is the time to talk about it, hm? I mean – " he grinned " – You're getting ready to go on a '_date_' with your '_boyfriend_' Blaise. Wouldn't want to miss that opportunity, now would we?"

She rolled her eyes and he brought up the leaned-back hand to brush away a piece of hair from her face before he got up to look through her closet. She silently brought the other pillow to her face and inwardly groaned.

_I wish it was you_, she thought, _And_ _I wish we weren't pretending. I wish you'd quit being complicated and just tell me what's going on. I wish you knew._

"What do you usually do at these reunions and why is there a pillow over your face?" he asked as he turned around to find her in a Pillow-Mione Sandwich.

"Talk to people, eat, talk s'more, throw things," she shrugged and removed the pillow on her face, "And I got bored."

He smirked, "Alright. I managed to find a shirt and some capris that look like they were yours." He tossed the items at her and she reached up and caught them. They waited for a minute or two before she arched an eyebrow.

"Draco?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"Leave."

He blinked, "Oh yeah." He walked out and she sat up, shaking her head.

Draco walked down the hall and to the living room, where he grabbed a book and sat down on the couch to read. To his disgust, it was one of Madge's books, a Muggle one that Blaise had gotten her because it had bright colors on it. He was contemplating putting it down when Blaise jumped into the room, singing.

"'F' is for Firenze, who was the weirdest teacher, 'U' is for Umm, okay, 'N' is for Nosebleeds, used to skip Herbology, don't wanna go to class today!" he sang before looked pointedly at Draco.

Draco actually knew where this was going and grinned, "'F' is Freed Fire – used by Crabbe and Goyle, 'U' is for You-Know-Who, 'N' is for No more Muggles, when you're – " he cringed a little, as did Blaise, but they continued.

"Draco!" Blaise gasped, "That is _not_ what fun is all about! Sing it with me."

"Fine," he fake-sighed as Hermione walked in.

"'F' is for – " Blaise started before looking pointedly at Hermione.

She thought about it before singing, "'F' is for Ferret version of Draco – " Draco frowned a little " – 'U' is for Umbridge sucks – " Blaise grinned " – 'N' is for Never trying out for Quidditch, I would just get scared and duck!"

"OH MY MERLIN, MIONE, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW," Blaise grinned before reaching over and hugging her. She laughed as Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Hey, wait," Blaise leaned back a little from her, "Since we're dating now, do I get to kiss her?"

"No," Hermione and Draco both said as she pulled away from Blaise to go stand by Draco. They both knew he was teasing, but just to be on the safe side….

"Psht, you two are no fun," Blaise frowned before grinning, "Alright, we better get going! Draco, you sure you don't want to go?"

"I'm sure," he smiled, "Have fun, Mione."

She waved as she walked out the door, but Draco stopped Blaise.

"Mate, nothing that will make me hate you," Draco said, glaring slightly at him, "Understand?"

"Aye-aye, Captain," Blaise rolled his eyes, "Me hears ya orders, savvy?"

Draco groaned as he walked out dancing like an idiot. He looked over at the fireplace and an idea formed.

* * *

**Eli Short Memorial Park**

"Hermione!" Alicia gasped before hugging her cousin, "You're late!"

"Really? That's what you notice? Not the fact that I'm wearing that shirt you practically forced me to get?" Hermione said, pulling out the edge of the shirt for her to see. It was black with "_Silly ol' bear_" written on it in gold cursive, Winnie-the-Pooh hidden in the background with a slightly darker gold.

"Oh my gosh, you're wearing it!" she grinned.

Hermione rolled her eyes as Phillip ran over to them, panting with a stick coming out of his hair.

"Juliet – here," he panted, "Can't – breathe. She wants to – see you two – Blaise gotta – come."

Hermione grimaced before turning back to Blaise, "You ready?"

"Of course, Madame," he bowed before losing his balance and doing a somersault.

"Oi – we're doomed," Alicia and Hermione said as Blaise came back up, proclaiming that he had stuck the landing.

"Alicia, you look absolutely fab!" a voice said as they got closer. She had strawberry blonde hair tied in a perfect ponytail that even had the end looping up and – true to Daniel – was decked out in a fuchsia scheme. She had on a white shirt and pants, but with a fuchsia short sleeved jacket and belt and high-heeled shoes. Her bracelets and large hoopy earrings were fuchsia and white as well. Juliet reached over and hugged Alicia by the shoulders, as if she really didn't want to touch her.

"Juliet, it's – um – _great_ to see you too," Alicia gritted her teeth, "Uhhh – lookit Mione!"

Juliet looked to where Alicia had pointed and gasped, "Well, if it isn't Miss Hermione Grangerrrrr!"

Hermione winced as the 'r' in her last name rose up in pitch.

"Well, you look _so_ much better than you did! You finally tamed that hair of yours – and _look,_ your teeth are _so_ much betterrrrr!"

"Hi Juliet. You look…fuchsia-ish today," Hermione said as Blaise grinned and rolled his eyes at her. She mouthed to him, "I couldn't think of anything, shut up."

"And who is this young man?" Juliet asked, batting her eyes at Blaise.

"Hi, I'm Blaise Zabini," he shook her hand, "I'm a friend of Mione's."

"A _friend_?" Juliet repeated, eyeing him more closely.

"She just broke up with her boyfriend," Alicia whispered to Hermione before talking to Juliet again, "Yeah, Mione and Blaise are such a cute couple, aren't they, Juliet?"

"Oh," Juliet pouted a little before perking up again, "Why of course they are!"

Blaise glanced over at Mione and Alicia before taking a leap of faith, "Actually, Mione and I aren't dating. I'm just stepping in for her actual boyfriend, Draco. He's one of my best friends, and he couldn't be here today because he'd already promised his mum he'd do something."

Alicia and Hermione blinked and whirled their heads to look over at him. He grinned back at them as Juliet studied him again.

"Oh, Blaise," she smiled, "Please tell me more about Draco."

"Or, better yet, I can go get him!" Blaise grinned back at her. Hermione quickly gave him a very short shake of the head, but he just winked and ran off, promising to be right back.

"Hey girls," Patricia said as she leaned over and hugged Hermione as hard as she could, "Was that Blaise?"

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled, "He's going to go get Draco."

"AUNTY PAT!" Alicia screeched before basically tackling her aunt and hissing in her ear, "Please act like Draco is Hermione's boyfriend, okay? We'll explain everything once Juliet's gone."

Patricia pulled back and rubbed her ear, "Hello Alicia, and thank you for the enthusiastic hug. So, Mione, your boyfriend coming? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh bless you, Aunty Pat," Alicia murmured.

"He promised his mum he'd do something," Hermione said, "Blaise thinks he can probably go get him."

"Well let's hope he can come," Patricia smiled, "I rather like Draco." She winked at Hermione before walking away.

"What was that?" Hermione mouthed to Alicia, making her shrug.

"Hermione, I didn't think you'd have it in you," Juliet smiled, "A _boyfriend_?"

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Alicia snapped.

"Oh, no, not at all," Juliet blinked, "I mean, she was just a little bookworm with absolutely no friends – "

"Well she's _got_ friends. I've had the pleasure of meeting a dozen of them," Alicia glared.

Juliet gave a hearty laugh, "Oh, right, just like you've met her boyfriend, right?"

Hermione turned bright red, and Alicia opened her mouth wide to yell at her, right when someone walked up to Hermione and kissed her temple. She blinked and turned to find that Draco was there, his hand sliding across her back to the other side of her waist.

"Hey, thought I couldn't make it," Draco smiled at her, "What did I miss?"

"HA! IN YOUR FACE JULIET, HE DOES TOO EXIST, YOU SNOTTY, FUCHSIA WEARING – oh crap that was out loud," Alicia blinked before Hermione edged away from her and into Draco as Juliet blinked with her mouth wide open.

"Ummm," Draco started before looking over and saying, "Oh hey, Mione – look! It's Madge!"

"Oh good, Madge! Uhhhh, Alicia, come meet Madge!" Hermione said before grabbing her cousin's wrist and dragging her to Blaise and the five year old.

"I can't believe you did that!" Hermione hissed at her.

"Excellent," Draco grinned, "Really, that was great, wish you would've continued."

"I am sooooo dead," Alicia muttered, "My mother will kill me."

"Oh come on – you stuck up for me," Hermione said gently, putting her hand on her shoulder, "Aunt Nancy would be proud of you."

"Whoa, wait, hold on," Madge said as she was being held by Blaise, "She stuck up for you? Why was she sticking up for you?"

Draco and Blaise turned to the two girls with the same expressions. Hermione sighed and told them what had happened. When that was over, Blaise was gaping and Draco was furious.

"That little witch!" Blaise finally spouted, "And I would've said something totally different if Madge wasn't here!"

"Put me down!" Madge kicked futilely at the air. Blaise put her down and she marched off towards Juliet. Once she was right in front of her, Juliet bent down and grinned at her.

"Hello there, Sweetheart," she said.

"You're a bully. Hermione is a great person and you shouldn't treat her like that. I don't care if you don't like her, just suck it up and quit acting like a baby. Honestly. I just turned five and I'm acting more mature than you," Madge said before walking away. She paused, however, to blow a razz at her and then jump into Blaise's arms and try to hide.

"I love you guys," Hermione grinned, "Seriously, I _really_ love you people."

"We love you too, Mione," Draco smiled as Alicia wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

"Well, it didn't go _exactly_ as planned, but I rather enjoyed it. Except for that bit where I thought she was going to pluck my head off with those horrifying fake nails of hers," Alicia said before shuddering, "Now, who wants a hotdog?"

Blaise, Madge and Draco stayed for the reunion, meeting their Great Uncle Greg, their Grandmother, their Pop-Pop, their second cousin once removed Jewel who was just a baby. They ate hotdogs and hamburgers and Madge played with Phillip for a bit before everybody had to go home.

"I love you, Mum," Hermione said as she hugged her mother, "I'll promise to write more often until I can come home."

"I love you too, Mione," Patricia gripped her daughter for a second longer.

"Love you, Dad," Hermione reached over to hug her father now, but instead he picked her up and swirled her around once. He put her down and winced – his back was getting older.

"Love you too, Hermione," he said before hugging her, being careful with his back, "I want you to be careful, alright?"

"Alright," she promised before waving and walking towards Draco, who had waited for her as Blaise and Madge had gone ahead.

"Draco Malfoy, that was a very nice thing to do," she smiled.

"Yeah, well, in all honesty, the only reason I left the house was because Blaise said that Phillip was down in a well and they couldn't get him out. He told me the truth when we were a foot away from the park," he shrugged, "But thanks all the same."

"Seriously, I really appreciate it," she said before reaching over and placing her lips on his.

This was intended to be a one-and-a-half second kiss, but Draco had a different idea. His hands came up and cupped her face and he kissed her much longer. She blinked her eyes open and then shut again, pressing into him.

They were stopped, however, by a little girl's voice saying, "Ewwww."

"I agree," Blaise grinned, "Ewww."

Draco and Hermione pulled apart, gaping at Blaise and Madge. Blaise was grinning and Madge was playing with her shoelace, already bored with the teenagers.

"We were just…" Draco started.

"Yeah, yeah, save it, Casanova," Blaise rolled his eyes, "I _was_ going to tell you something, but I'll let you get back to your face-sucking. No offense, Mione." And with that, he walked off with Madge waving over his shoulder.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione winced as Draco cursed openly, "That was…embarrassing."

"Yeah," he agreed as they began to walk again, "So, uh, earlier, you asked if I had been thinking…about us."

"Yeah?" she said, urging him to continue.

"And I'm just really surprised."

"That…?"

He grinned over, "You're the brightest witch of our age, Hermione. You figure it out." And with that he took off towards his house.

Hermione soaked this in and groaned, "He's going to _kill_ me. I just know it."

* * *

**Short chapter is short. It's only 20 pages long on Word. **

**But yeah, Madge ain't afraid to tell it like it is. :)**

**And that song I had them sing? Yeah, it's an actual song, I just changed it and switched around the verses. Here it is:**

**_The Parselmouths Fun Song by The Parselmouths_**

**_'F' is for Ferret version of Draco_**

**_'U' is for Umbridge sucks_**

**_'N' is for Never trying out for Quidditch, I would just get scared and duck!_**

**_'F' is for Fiend(?) Fire – used by Crabbe and Goyle_**

**_'U' is for You-Know-Who_**

**_'N' is for No more Muggles, when you're – _**

**_Christina, Brittney, that is not what fun is all about! Sing it with me._**

**_Fine, okay._**

**_'F' is for Fred, who was the hottest Weasley_**

**_'U' is for Umm, okay_**

**_'N' is for Nosebleeds, used to skip Herbology, don't wanna go to class today! Don't wanna go to class today!_**

**I was singing that song all day today. :) It's just…fun! XD**

**Okay, so…I really want to keep writing but my battery's dying and I've got…30% remaining. And I'll have to plug it in to my desk, but then my feet get cold so I've got to get a blanket which refuses to cooperate with covering my feet so…Yeah.**


	21. Break Time!

"Hey guys!" Ren grinned, "So, I've been thinking, and the new chapter refuses to cooperate with me. So instead, I've got an interview with somebody from the fanfic to appease your TMT needs! And yes, I am calling this TMT so I won't have to say 'Two Months Together' over and over again!"

"CAN I COME OUT NOW?" somebody yelled, making Ren wince and make a move to cover her ears.

"Now, you may be wondering who I'm interviewing today!" she started before Blaise walked forward, getting incredibly in your face. "Blaise! I haven't introduced you yet!"

"But they already know me!" he frowned back at Ren before getting in your face again, "DON'T YOU?"

"Blaise, back off – don't scare them away," she frowned, "I kinda need them."

"No you don't," he looked back at her, "You don't really know them, so – "

"AHEM! MOVING-ON-SIT-IN-THAT-CHAIR-RIGHT-NOW-BEFORE-I-GLUE-YOU-TO-IT," she hid in a cough.

Blaise snorted as he moved to the chair she had pointed to, "Subtle. Very subtle."

"Now, anyway, what was I going to say?" she sat down in the chair opposite him, "Ah, yeah, the reason why _I_ am interviewing this instead of, say, Hermione is because I think it'd be funnier this way. And it's also my story."

"Blah-blah-blah," Blaise rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "You're getting boring."

"Oh fine," she huffed, "First question: _What is one of you favorite hobbies_?"

"Boooo-riiiing," he sighed at the glare she gave him, "Oh alright. I don't really _have_ a hobby. Draco's got Quidditch, Hermione's got reading. Would being awesome count as a hobby?"

"If I don't say yes we'll be stuck here all day so…yeah Blaise! It's totally a hobby!" she plastered on a fake smile before groaning, "Why did I pick _you_? Don't they like Draco more?"

"Yeah. But so does Mione. They gotta learn to share."

"But, I mean, come on," she slumped lower in her seat, "You're borderline insane. And _I_ don't even own Draco, I'm just borrowing you guys from J. K. Rowling!"

"Who is that again?" Blaise scratched his head, "Is she the one who made people think I'm a girl?"

Ren sighed, "No, Blaise."

"'Cause I'm not a girl."

"I know, Blaise."

"But why'd she make people think I was a girl?"

"She didn't! She's the one who – oh forget it, I don't have all day to argue about who J. K. Rowling is or isn't."

"I do. So, as I was saying, who out there originally thought I was a girl? Fess up! I'll try to go easy on you!"

"Blaise, you can't threaten the readers!" she snapped.

"Why not?"

"It's not polite."

"I'm in Slytherin, since when do I care about being polite?"

She brought up a very random and a very heavy book and began to beat herself with it, "Why – the – heck – did – you – choose – Blaise – you – stupid – stupid – girl?"

"So it was _YOU_!" Blaise said in horror, "_YOU'_re the one who told everybody I was a girl! Prepare for combat, mortal!"

"What?" she looked up, freaking out a little, "No, wait, Blaise, I – !"

* * *

" – Blaise, you can't freak out the author like that," Draco scolded as he frowned down at the black haired Slytherin, slumping in his chair and pouting like a toddler, "I mean, seriously mate, she actually thought you were going to kill her!"

"Well I wasn't!" Blaise huffed, "She just overreacted!"

"No, I think she _under_-reacted. I would've done much more than beat you with a bloody book."

"Bloody hurt too," he frowned rubbed the base of his neck, "She's violent for a little midget, isn't she?"

"I HEARD THAT!" Ren screamed from somewhere, possibly in another room. Blaise flinched and Draco had to hide his snicker behind a cleverly placed cough.

"Now, since our author/interviewer is – ahhh – currently not available," Draco frowned down at Blaise, who was busy twiddling his thumbs and looking up at the ceiling, "This chapter – not even a chapter really, more like a chaptlette – this chaptlette is cut short, due to the fact that Blaise tried to maul Ren."

"SHE BEAT ME WITH A BLOODY BOOK!" he defended, "BUT SHE GETS TO ACT LIKE THE VICTIM! EXPLAIN THAT TO ME!"

"Mate, a few things. One, you instigated it. Two, I have seen Hermione carry around things far much bigger than that. Be lucky you only got what you got. Three, she's a fourth year. You're a sixth year. She's apparently a 'midget' – his words, not mine, don't kill me off – and you are at least 5' 10''. I don't think you're fit to play the victim card. The weakling card, perhaps."

Hermione sighed as she walked out into view, "She's griping that she had to cut the chapter short. And that she's got writer's block. And she wants to get to the author's note quickly because, apparently, she wants to get out of the same dimension as Blaise."

"Dimension?" Draco repeated as Blaise pouted some more.

Hermione shrugged, "I'm just playing the messenger."

* * *

**All of those things Hermione said are true. *sob* I do have writer's block! But I actually wouldn't mind if Blaise was in my dimension. Maybe someone out there looks and acts like him. Maybe even have the same name. That'd be awesome. Anyway! **

**I am sorry that I got your hopes up for an actual chapter, but the one I'm working on is pitiful. Very sad, it's only sixteen pages at the moment! So alas – very slow goings.**

_**BUT**_** my good news is that I'm signing up to be a beta! And I've been thinking about getting a beta for this story, because once I read over it I noticed some things like 'but' should be 'put' or whatever. It freaks me out like you have no idea. So if you'd like to be my beta, leave a review saying so! **

**"**_**With love and sugar cakes**_**," Birdie.**


	22. My Watermelons!

**I actually got this beginning idea while sitting in front of my fan after packing for my vacation. And then the rest is whenever I was in AR at my grandpa's house, and I was walking around in his driveway with heels. I love heels – they make **_**sounds!**_

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Draco groaned slightly as he shuffled down the hallway. It was in the middle of the night, and he had gotten up in a sweat. He'd had the amazing idea to go visit Hermione and see how she was doing in the heat. But in his sleepiness, he forgot which room was hers and had walked into the study. He was now walking back to his room and groaning because the heat was killing him.

He was stopped, however, by a slightly wistful sounding voice, "Hey."

He turned and saw Hermione peeking out from behind her arm. She was sitting on the floor with two tank tops and a pair of shorts on, leaning back on one arm and having the other arm rest on her knee. Her pose reminded him of a model he'd seen in a magazine.

"Hey," the corner of his mouth twitched a bit as he walked to the doorway.

"It's hot out," she told him in a pitiful, childish voice.

"I know," he told her, smiling as he leaned against her doorway.

She released herself from the model pose and leaned back on her arms, "Come sit with me?"

He nodded and walked towards her to sit down next to her. Instead, he did something very Draco-ish and just laid his head down on her lap, enjoying the cool breeze the fan brought to him. Hermione chuckled a little before bringing a hand up and brushing back his hair. He smiled and closed his eyes as she softly played with his hair.

"Mione?" he asked after a minute.

"Mmhmm?" she hummed, still playing with his hair.

He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind at the last minute, "Do you like it here?"

She blinked and looked down at him, frowning a little, "Yeah, why?"

He shrugged, "Just wondering."

"Alright then," she smiled down at him before they fell into comfortable silence again.

Draco closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He could really see why Blaise preferred Hermione over Pansy now. Although, Blaise meant that Hermione was nicer than Pansy, and he thought that too, but the fact that she didn't practically yank out his hair helped too, in his opinion.

"Draco?" she asked.

"Mmhmm?" he asked, now fighting off sleepiness.

"What're we gonna do once we go back to Hogwarts?"

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. From the small amount of light coming from the window, he could see that she was a little bit worried. He rose up, turning to face her in the process.

"I really…_really_ don't want to figure that out until the time comes," he admitted.

She frowned, "We'll have to figure it out eventually you know."

"I know. Just not now."

"Draco – " not wanting to get into a fight just after everything had been nice, he reached over and slid Hermione even closer to him, connecting his lips to hers and making sure that she wouldn't try to bring that conversation up again. Unfortunately, once he pulled back, she did bring it up. "You can't do that whenever you don't want to talk about something, you know," she breathed.

"Oh really?" he smirked before leaning back in. She knitted her eyebrows a little before kissing him back. Whenever she tried to pull back, the plan to have that discussion forming in her head, he reached up and put a hand on the back of her neck, keeping her there so he could kiss her more.

"Ahem," somebody coughed, making the two open their eyes and pull back. Blaise was standing there, in his pajamas, Madge cradled in his arms as she fought back sleep on his shoulder.

"_Why_ do _you_ always sneak up on us?" Draco asked irritably as Hermione blushed and slid a little bit away from him.

"Better me than your mum," he smiled before walking towards them and lowering Madge to the floor, "It's hot at our house. Can we stay here?"

"Sure," he shrugged as Madge crawled over into Hermione's lap.

"Miooone, I'm hoooot," she cried as the teenager wrapped her arms around her.

Blaise sat down next to Draco, fighting back the urge to tease him in front of Hermione. The blonde Slytherin glared at his friend, silently telling him that he would kill him mercilessly if he said anything.

"Aww, poor Madge," Hermione said as she lay down, holding the little girl in her arms.

"Can I stay here with you?" she asked.

"Of course," she said as she ran her hand through Madge's thick, black curly hair.

"Can you kick Drakey and Blaise out?" she yawned as Hermione chuckled and the boys frowned.

"No, I can't. They're hot too."

Blaise looked over at Draco and the two boys shared a grin, "Of course we're hot, Mione – we're Slytherins."

"What? Oh – I can't say anything around you two, can I?" she frowned over at them.

"Nope!" Blaise said happily before spinning around with the aid of his socked feet.

"Hermione? Can you tell me a bed time story?" Madge suddenly asked.

Hermione blinked and Blaise stopped his sock spinning, glaring a little at the Gryffindor.

"I refuse to tell her another story tonight. I've already told her ten," he huffed before spinning around so that his back was to the lot.

"That was only 'cause the ones before were lame. What if I don't want them to live 'happily ever after'?" Madge asked.

"Morbid little five year old…" Draco muttered. He then snapped his fingers and stood up, walking down the hall and to his room. He opened up his trunk, and there inside one of the pouches was the title-less, author-less, formerly ghost possessed book. He opened it up and found that the words were still there, but they just remained words, nothing swimming or changing or showing him any pictures.

He walked back to the room, where everybody was now lying on a sea of pillows that Hermione and Blaise had scattered out. Some he recognized from the living room or the library, a few others from Hermione's room. Everybody looked up when he walked back in, the Zabini siblings' looking curious as Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"Draco, no – what if…?" she trailed off, biting her lip and eyeing the book.

"Relax," he smiled softly at her, "She's out, she's gone, Margaret has left the novel."

She looked as though she didn't believe him, but allowed him to sit and open up the book at a random page and begin to read aloud.

* * *

_It was an absolutely horrid dance. His date was clinging to him, always talking in a whiney voice, his friend was off hiding – he never did like huge social events, he nearly had a heart attack at his first Quidditch game – and a few of the other girls were giggling over by a wall as they gossiped._

_**Never go to another dance**__, he thought to himself, __**it causes nothing but misery.**_

_Now, if he could just find the girl and tease her a bit about not having a date, it might just lift his spirits up a bit. He thought about what he would say to her as somebody announced the victors and their dates. What shocked him most was when the girl was announced with the bloody Quidditch star. _

_He whirled around, not expecting to see her on the foreign player's arm. She certainly looked different. Her hair had been fixed and she'd put on make-up – although, in his very secret opinion, she hadn't really needed any – her dress was a purple-ish blue-ish color. She didn't look half bad. In fact, she didn't look bad at all. _

_Right when he was getting over his shock at seeing her there, with that guy, looking like that, his friend decided to appear right next to him, on the other side where his date was not occupying his arm space._

"_Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," he sang as he danced a little, smirking at him, "I-I was righ-ight!"_

"_What?" his date finally asked his friend, looking over him at the dancing idiot, "What are you talking about?"_

"_Ten galleons, pay up," he ignored her, holding his hand out in front of him, "I won."_

"_Dirty little…" he cursed as he fished the money out of his pocket and dropping it into his awaiting hand. _

"_What on earth is going on?" his date asked them._

"_Now, see, back when - _the word was fuzzy to read, barely making any sense in Draco's head – _got her teeth shortened, I told him 'yup, she's gonna end up pretty and you're gonna end up kicking yourself for being mean to her. Just watch. Its gonna happen.' And he called me some pretty bad names, and we argued a bit before we made a bet."_

_His date sighed and said something under her breath, something about her mother and family honor or something. _

_After an hour or so of arguing with _– another fuzzy word – _he walked out into the hallway to try to think. He stopped when he heard __her__ yelling at someone. _

" – _You spoil everything!" she sounded close to tears as she sat down on the staircase, sounding defeated as she put her head in her hands and shook it back and forth. _

_Before he could even stop himself, he called out her name, making her look up and glare at him and snap, "What?"_

_He stood there for a few moments before telling her, "He's an arse." He then walked back into the Great Hall, but not before catching a glimpse of her shocked face on the way back in._

* * *

"Bloody…" Hermione breathed.

"Sodding…" Draco gaped.

"AWESOME!" Blaise cheered before grabbing the book from him, "That totally described our Yule Ball!"

"Your what?" Madge asked.

"We had the Triwizard Tournament, and at Christmas we had a Yule Ball," Blaise answered as he flipped through the pages, "This thing is cool. Can I read it?"

"I don't know," Draco blinked and frowned over at him, "_Can_ you read it?"

Blaise glared at him before grinning back at the book, "Alright ickle thing – show me your secrets!"

"My brother's so weird," Madge groaned as she grabbed a pillow and put it over her face. Hermione and Draco both laughed at the little girl, which made her smirk underneath the fabric.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor, Garden**

Narcissa walked as though she had a purpose, which she absolutely did, but she still had to slow herself a little so she could hear the other footsteps. Why the boys had wanted a maze-like garden was beyond her – she hated things like that, she always got lost in them and it took her forever to find her way back without Draco coming to look for her.

"Miss Granger?" she asked once she saw the girl walking away from her. She immediately turned around before smiling at her, walking back towards her.

"Yes, Missus Malfoy?" she asked politely, trying to brush away the skirt she'd decided to wear, since Narcissa – and Blaise, apparently – had decided to hide her normal clothes again. It was light blue and decided to take on a life of its own every time she walked, trying to tangle itself in between her legs. She'd put on a white blouse as well, but the heels were going to kill her before the skirt would, she decided.

"Would you care to take a walk with me?" she said.

"Oh, sure," Hermione smiled as the older woman walked towards her.

"I'm glad to see you've dressed up," Narcissa said after a moment.

"Really?"

"Yes. You met my grandmother at the party, correct?"

"Oh, yeah," she frowned a little bit as she tried to figure out where this was going.

Narcissa sighed, "That woman can be very demanding, just like my mother was, and, well…"

Hermione slowed her pace and turned to look at her. She was biting her lip and had her eyes looking up as though she was searching her head for the right thing to say.

"Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to, but she would like it very much – and Draco would too, since he's scared to death of the woman – if you came with us today to visit her," Narcissa said in a rush before looking over at Hermione a little hopefully.

"Err – Missus Malfoy, does she know that I…?" she looked around and motioned her arms a little, not exactly finding the right words.

"Hermione, dear, my grandmother always liked Andromeda best," Narcissa said as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, as if this actually meant something. She then walked off with a smile, leaving her there to wonder what she actually meant.

"Hey, Granger!" Draco called as he jogged forward to meet her, trying to work a tie, "Please tell me my mother wasn't in here."

"Uhh, she was," Hermione arched an eyebrow, "Why?"

Draco cursed – either at his tie or what she said – before looking over at her, "She always gets lost in here."

"DRACO MALFOY, I TOLD YOU, I HAD A MAP MADE!" Narcissa yelled, somewhere from outside the maze. Draco and Hermione shared glances before they both had to keep from laughing out loud.

"So, what did she want to talk to you about?" Draco asked as he continued to wrestle with his tie before finally growling and dropping his arms, glaring at the innocent fabric. She sighed as she reached forward and began to tie it for him, making him freeze and watch her.

"She wants me to go meet your grandmother," she said, just as she was beginning to tighten it. Draco's jaw dropped, making her tighten the tie onto it and hook his mouth into place. She blinked and laughed a little before readjusting it.

"You – and my _great grandmother?_ Oh no. Ohhhh no. This won't be going well," Draco fidgeted a little, "It's like Blaise and caffeine. It will only end with explosions." Once he remembered she was there and he was talking aloud, he looked up and tried to reassure her with a worried grin, "For me, of course. You'll be fine. I promise."

She nodded before leaving with a smile, although she was nervously twirling a piece of hair on her finger.

"You _will_ be okay, Hermione," he muttered as he examined his tie, "I'll make sure of it." After finding that she'd fixed his tie perfectly, he set off to go and face the music.

* * *

**Edna Gray's House**

"Grandmother!" Narcissa said happily before carefully hugging the older woman.

The grey haired woman smiled at her granddaughter before turning to her great grandson, "Draco!"

He shuffled an inch towards her, although he was leaning away from her when he stopped. Hermione rolled her eyes and gently pushed him forward, making him lean towards his great grandmother. He shot a quick glare over his shoulder as Edna walked towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, instead of pinching it like she usually would. He blinked and arched an eyebrow at her, but she put a finger to her lips and smiled. _Later_, she silently promised.

"Hello," Hermione smiled politely, "I'm Hermione Gran-oof!" She was quickly pulled into a hug by the old woman. Despite the woman's frail appearance, she was stronger than she looked, and when hugged she emitted a strong fragrance resembling lavender.

"I remember you quite well, Hermione," Edna said, gently taking the teenager's wrist and leading her into the living room, which was decorated with the taste only grandmothers could have. An incredibly comfy couch was against the wall, two chairs angled towards it with a coffee table in the middle of the little area. On the far side was a wall full of books and a fireplace, a cat curled up on the rug. Once Hermione was seated on the couch, the cat was in her lap in an instant, sniffing out the new seating arrangement before curling up and purring.

"I hope you don't mind," Edna smiled at her, "Zoran rather likes new company, don't you Zoran?"

The gray cat, Zoran, purred even louder before rubbing up against Hermione and meowing.

"It's fine, I love cats, I've got one at home," she smiled before running her hand along Zoran's back, making him purr even louder, if it was even possible.

Draco flopped gracefully next to Hermione, getting in Zoran's face so the cat would notice him. Zoran stood up and arched his back, emitting a loud hiss before turning around and curling up again in Hermione's lap. Draco chuckled and she frowned at him, poking him lightly in the shoulder.

"Leave the cat alone – what's it ever done to you?" she frowned.

Draco thought this over for a minute before grinning up at her, "It's more of the fact that he _exists_, you know?"

"Draco, leave my cat alone," Edna frowned, "And quit bugging Hermione – I like her. Do _not_ scare her off."

Draco sighed dramatically and flopped back into the couch, an arm across his forehead, "My own family – I have been betrayed! Oh woe is me!"

"And you wonder why I wouldn't talk to you at Hogwarts," Hermione sighed.

"No, you talked to me, just not very nicely," he shrugged, "Although I never really gave you a reason to."

"Now, ignoring my great grandson," Edna ignored the small 'hey!' she got at that comment, "What do you enjoy, Hermione?"

Before she could even open her mouth, Draco answered for her, "Books. Big books that she likes to hit her friends with."

She frowned over at him, "That was _one time_ and Ron was being annoying."

Edna arched an eyebrow at Narcissa, but they both remained silent before the older of the two interrupted Draco, "What are some of your favorite books, _Hermione_?"

She beamed at that, "Oh, I love - !"

"Hogwarts: A History?" Draco guessed dully.

She frowned at him again, "Would you quit that? And that's not the only thing I read you know!"

"Then please – go on," he waved his hand with a smile, urging her to go on.

"I like a lot of the classics – of the Muggle world of course, I've got no idea what would be considered 'classic' in the wizarding world," Hermione grinned.

"Oh, wonderful! Narcissa, you can show Hermione a few that you recommend," Edna gestured over to the wall of books, "Draco and I will go get some tea."

"Why do I have to g – ow, Grandmother!" Draco's ear had been seized by her bony hand, dragging him behind her as she went for the kitchen. Narcissa, Hermione and Zoran stayed behind to talk about books.

Once they were in the kitchen and she had a house elf get some tea ready, Edna turned to Draco with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed.

"Uh-oh – what'd I do?" Draco asked worriedly as he nursed his poor ear.

"Draco Malfoy…" Edna said slowly, "Do _not_ get my hopes up."

"I'm sorry – what?"

"If you break it off with that girl I will cut you out of my will. Is that clear?"

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"It's obvious that you and Hermione have something. I don't quite understand what that something is though, but I just know that you have feelings for that girl."

Draco flapped his mouth like a fish for a few minutes before finally spluttering, "N-no! I don't! I don – okay, fine. How'd you guess?"

"You finished her sentences," she said with a smile, "Your great grandfather used to drive me insane with that."

"Do you miss him?" Draco asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, no," she shrugged, "He's having a lot of fun in Ireland – I'd hate to be evil and make him come back so soon."

He chuckled at the thought of the picture his great grandfather had sent him a few months ago, which was a picture of him in a kilt as he danced out of sync with the other dancers.

"And we," she interrupted his thoughts, "Have been married for – "

"I know, I know, a long time," Draco sighed, "Listen, Grandmother, I _do_ like Hermione, but _please_ don't ruin it for me, will you?"

"Me?" her eyebrows went high on her head as she blinked, "Why would you even _think_ such a thing, Draco?" She took the tray from the house elf, which was filled with tea cups and a tea pot, and other fancy things people who drank tea put on their fancy platters. With a nod to follow her, she walked back into the living room.

"Draco, why don't you help your great grandmother with that?" Narcissa asked as she and Hermione were on the ground in front of a bookshelf, Hermione looking through one of the books in her lap as Zoran tried to capture her attention.

"She got it first," Draco shrugged.

"I am _not_ that old, Narcissa," Edna huffed as she set the tray down.

"Sorry, Grandmother," Narcissa shrugged before pulling another book out and inspecting the spine.

"So," Edna clapped her hands with a smile, "How are you enjoying my great grandson so far, Hermione?"

Draco paled and smacked his hand over his face, trying very hard not to groan out loud.

"Oh, he's fi – wait, what?" Hermione blinked and turned back to Edna, "I'm not sure I heard you correctly."

"I said, how are you enjoying my great grandson so far?"

Hermione's mouth flew open a little before she closed it and continued to look at her with wide eyes, "I'm afraid I don't…I'm not…I…_what_?"

"Ignore her," Draco said quickly, "She's going senile."

"I am not!" Edna frowned, "Look, you two, I have had enough experience to know when somebody is in love. I watched my sisters and brothers fall in love, I watched my daughters and sons, and I watched my grandchildren. And now, I have watched my great grandchild fall in love. My life has been fulfilled…until you have children, in which case I'll have to stick around and see _them_ fall in love, which I will gladly do so!"

Hermione and Draco fell into silence until he squeaked and tugged at his tie, "See? Senile! I can't breathe. Can you breathe? I can't." And with that he rushed out into the backyard.

"I am not senile!" Edna screamed after him, "My watermelons say so!"

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

Draco sighed as they Apparated back to the Manor, wanting to go and hide and find a better reason for his grandmother's outburst other than "she's going senile!" But he was stopped by Blaise and Madge standing there waiting for them.

"Blaise, Madge," Draco sighed, "What do you want?"

"Draco!" Madge said happily, "You and Hermione are going to take care of me for a night!"

Draco and Hermione instantly paled, glancing between each other before looking back at the black haired five-year-old.

"Err, Madge, what are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Aunt Cissy said that I'm a test run for when you two have to take care of a baby!" Madge grinned.

Blaise chuckled, "Good luck you two! Have _fun!_" And with that, he walked away, laughing.

* * *

**Alright, so…yeah. The watermelons are in a portrait, I think, and they can talk or something….**

**Also, my beta is ****Linzerj****, who was not able to beta this chapter because it's 1:22 AM when I finished and I couldn't wait any longer. And we haven't quit gotten the DocX thing down. *facetable***

**But, yeah, I'd appreciate it if you reviewed! (GASP, Winnie the Pooh movie commercial! YAY!)**


	23. More Papercuts Please!

**Alright guys, sooo…the new chapter is going slow, so I thought we'd do another "Letters" again. You guys send in letters, and I'll update this chapter with the new chapter. So, just to make it not be one of those "Author's Note" chapters – 'cause I hate those things – here's a conversation I had with my friend Izzy last night. Ginny shall play Izzy, and Hermione shall play me. Tah!**

* * *

"Smooth as butter, Mione, be smooth as butter," Ginny advised with a knowing smile. Hermione paused before turning to her.

"But what about spray butter? It's not smooth," she asked.

She paused before turning to the brunette, "That's not the real deal."

"How do you know?" Hermione frowned, "And besides, real butter's lumpy!"

"I make the butter," Ginny thought up wildly, "I know these things."

"Then why don't you?" she asked, lowering her book a little, "Know these things, I mean."

"That's how the Amish make their butter. I have special ways."

"Tell me more about these 'special butter making ways,'" she leaned back in her chair, watching her friend closely as the ends of her mouth began to twitch up.

"You're not allowed to know how to make said butter," she sniffed, turning a page in her magazine before Hermione grinned and said very loudly:

"You put dope in it, don't you?" she practically screamed.

"Maybe," she coughed a little, shifting her eyes on purpose, "I can't legally say if I do or do not."

"What about illegally?" she question as she shifted in her seat, "Can you illegally tell me?"

She hummed, "Yes, I suppose I can…but I won't."

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "You're in the Circle."

"WHO TOLD?" she yelled, clutching the armrests.

"Kelso. He's not too bright, you know."

"I knew it was him! Hyde is too cool for that."

"Umm, obviously! One can never be too sure about Fez though as well. Especially with candy."

"And other things…" she smirked a little.

"Yes, but we won't go there."

"No way. Hey, wanna head out to lunch? I have a craving for some butter," she chuckled a little the same time Hermione did, both abandoning their homework and walking out of the Common Room, where Harry and Ron had been seated in the corner, watching the exchange and trying not to glance awkwardly at each other.

* * *

**Izzy and I texted all of that last night. Kudos if you got my references! :D**

**With love**

**~ Birdie **

**(PS – read the play _The Waiting Room_. It might come up in the near future in one of my stories.)**


	24. The Fluffy Pumpkin

**Alright, so…I can't quite figure out what to say here. So…umm, I might've neglected this a tad. And Lindsay and I figured out how to work DocX. And my family thinks I'm going on a hunger strike – which I'm not! And then…the Harry Potter series is done...my friend Mel texted me at midnight and told me it was going to start and that if I got my butt moving I could be there. But…I couldn't. So I gave up the last chance at a Harry Potter midnight premiere.**

**And I don't really mind. I sat in my bed and listened to the Harry Potter theme song as I counted down the minutes. It ended right whenever the movie started at the theatre. "Mischief Managed." Oh, and butterbeer is _awesome. _I had a snowcone of it. Jealous?**

**[EDIT: 8-21-11] Sorry guys that it took so long, but I moved and started school and we still don't have a house. Bear with me? **

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

"Zabini, get back here!" Draco ordered before chasing after his friend, "I need an explanation!"

"Madge, are…I'm confused," Hermione admitted, looking between Madge and Narcissa, "What baby? Why is she a test run? Why me?"

"Remember little Catrina? And Madge is a test run to see if you two can handle a baby. And _you_, because you seem responsible," Narcissa grinned, "And neither of you can come to me for help. Madge can though."

"Doubt I'll have to," Madge grinned, taking Hermione's hand, "Mione's awesome!"

At that point, Blaise and Draco burst into the room, Blaise cackling and Draco frowning.

"I can't take care of Madge!" Draco told his mother, "Let alone Catrina! Do you have _any_ recollection how many puffskeins I killed when I was nine? What makes you think I can take care of Madge?"

"You've got Hermione!" Madge chirped.

"But I've never taken care of anybody either," Hermione admitted, "I'm lucky that I got Crookshanks, my parents never counted me responsible enough for a younger pet."

"What about your cousins?" Blaise asked.

She snorted, "Oh please. Daniel and Alicia were my age and older, and Phillip I only had to deal with for around twenty minutes at a time. I never had to take _care_ of any of them!"

"I'll be good Mione, I promise!" Madge told her as she grabbed hold of the older girl's hand, "_Please_? Please please _pleeeaaase_? Pretty please with a puffskein on top?"

Hermione sighed and smiled a little, "I thought it was a cherry on top?"

"What? No. It's a puffskein! 'Cherry' doesn't start with the letter 'p'!" Madge paused for a second before looking over at her brother, "Does it?"

Blaise chuckled before shaking his head and turning to Draco, "You have no idea." And with that, he walked off laughing again, this time leaving with Narcissa.

"Madge, listen Sweetie," Hermione kneeled down to her, "You're going to have to help us out on this, okay?"

"Okay Hermione!" Madge beamed, "Can we play a game?"

"What type of game?" Draco asked warily.

"Err…I dunno. You won't let me play Quidditch, will you?"

"Nope," he said as he crossed his arms, "I don't want to go to Mungo's."

"Well, in that case…" she rocked back and forth on her heels, "Let's play Kitty!"

"Kitty?" Hermione and Draco repeated.

"Yeah! One of us is the kitty, and the other two have to keep straight faces. The kitty's gotta get the other two to show motion!"

"Emotion," Hermione corrected.

"Yeah. And if you give up then you lose."

"Alright, sounds harmless enough," Draco said as he picked the girl up and over to the couch, "You wanna be the kitty first and show us how it's done?"

"Yeah! Can I, Mione?"

Hermione chuckled as she followed them, "Sure, go right ahead."

"Whoop! Now both of you sit right there!" she pointed to one end of the sectional, while Draco dropped her on the other on his way. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed him, waiting patiently as she stared blankly at Madge, who was waiting for Draco to pay attention.

"Hi, I'm Kitty!" Madge said happily.

The two stared blankly back.

"Please smile!" Madge pouted, batting her eyes.

The glanced between each other, making sure not to show a smirk or a smile.

"SMILE OR I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOOOOUUUUUL!"

Draco's eyes widened before he and Hermione finally began to laugh, giving Madge the satisfaction of winning.

"Where on Earth did you learn that?" Draco asked with a grin as Madge jumped into his lap.

"Draco, I live with Blaise," she deadpanned, "Mione, you be the kitty now!"

"Alright," she sighed as the two dawned straight faces, then she began to think over what she could say.

"Err…hi?" she shrugged. Draco rolled his eyes a little, careful to keep his face stone.

She tapped her fingers on her knee before snapping and grinning over at the two, pinching her nose and saying in a very high pitched voice, "DRAKEY!"

"Oh god, no!" Draco gasped before facepalming, "You know Pansy freaks me out. That was cruel, Hermione Granger, cruel."

She grinned back at him and turned back to Madge, who still had the bored expression on her face, "Barney is a dinosaur from my imagination – make me mad, he'll beat you bad, and you'll be a wormy nation."

Madge looked as if she was going to explode before she finally started to laugh, telling Hermione that that was a dirty trick all the while. Draco laughed as well as the little girl continued to laugh until she fell into the floor, making him lurch forward once he heard the cry.

"Madge!" Hermione was already on the floor and holding the girl as she cried and rubbed her head, "Are you alright? I am so sorry!"

"My head, my poor head!" Madge sniffed before looking up at Hermione with big, glistening orbs, "Stupid floor!"

"Are you okay?" she asked again, "I forgot how to check for a concussion!"

"Forgetting things," Draco supplied as he lowered himself with them, "Mione, is there anything you want to tell me? Like, say, running into a wall?"

"No, shut up, she's hurt," she snapped.

"I'm fine," Madge sniffed again as she clung to Hermione, "My heard hurts though."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hermione repeated as she held on tighter to the little girl, "I'm _sorry_."

"Its okay, Mione," she snuggled into the frizzling hair, "It wasn't your fault."

"How about we do something different, yeah?" Draco asked as he stood up.

"Park?" Madge asked as she leaned back from Hermione to look up at him.

"Yup – you're okay," he chuckled as he helped the two up.

As it turns out, Madge and Draco got along fine together, they'd even go as far as to joke about being actual siblings. She'd call him 'big brother Drakey' and grip onto his leg while he tried to walk. Draco would pretend that this was annoying, although the corners of his mouth were turned up. Hermione could very easily see Draco being a father, being patient as he played along with whatever game Madge had suddenly made up.

And as it also turns out, Draco thought Hermione would be an excellent mother. She'd play with Madge as well, although she seemed more into that him, and she just seemed to like being around Madge in general. Maybe Aunt Sil was right, maternal instincts do kick in at her age.

Bedtime, however, was proving to be a problem for the two. Madge had taken a bath willingly enough, but when it came time to actually get her _in_ the bed instead of just jumping up and down on it in her pajamas, she became stubborn.

"No – no – no – no – _no!_" she said as she shook her head, bouncing with her words to get her point across. Draco growled as Hermione felt sorry for the beating her poor bed was taking. And yet, if she'd just had her hammock….

"Madge, c'mon," Draco pleaded again, "Just lie down and go to sleep."

"_No!_" she frowned at the blonde Slytherin as she stopped her bouncing momentarily. Seeing her opportunity, Hermione leapt forward and tackled the girl into the bed, tickling her as she did. "Ah! Hermione!" she giggled, "Stop it!"

"Only if you pinky promise to go to bed!" Hermione sang.

Madge sighed and held up her pinky, which Hermione hooked with her own, "I promise."

Draco quirked an eyebrow as the little girl got underneath the covers, "What was that? Was that some kind of Unbreakable Vow or something?"

Hermione and Madge froze to look between each other then back at him, looking at him strangely before Hermione cracked a grin.

"No, it's just a way for kids to signify a promise," she smiled, "There's no death if anyone breaks the promise."

"Thank goodness," Madge muttered, "Because I'm not going to go to bed."

"Yes you are," the two teenagers argued.

"Nooooooooooo, don't make meeeeeee!" she whined.

"What if I tell you a bedtime story?" Hermione asked.

"Okay!" she said perkily.

"Once upon a time – since that's really the only way to start off a proper bedtime story – there was a king and a queen," she started, "The king wanted a boat made, but the queen wanted another castle. So they compromised – a castle-like boat. The ship was built and promised to be unsinkable, with an amazing interior. The staircase was grand, with a sparkling chandelier hanging just above it."

Draco snorted behind his hand as he leaned into the bed to listen, shooting her a smirk once she glanced over at him, "What was the name of this majestic boat, O' Authorable One?"

"Its name was…err…Olympic? No, err, the uhh, the umm…well, you know what?"

"What?"

"You should name the boat."

He grimaced slightly, "The Fluffy Pumpkin?"

"…What the heck?" she frowned at him, "You don't go naming a majestic boat 'The Fluffy Pumpkin.'"

"Why not? It's an enigma!"

"You are absolutely no help," she frowned at him before sighing back at Madge, "Alright, it was called the _Titanic._ And there actually wasn't a king or a queen who commissioned it – I just thought you'd like that bit. The _Titanic_ was supposed to be unsinkable, but an iceburg hit it and it went under, killing thousands of people and making history with its failed first journey. Good night, go to sleep."

"That was morbid, but not very good," Madge frowned and crossed her arms.

"Well, I'm sorry. Ask Mister Creativity over there," she glanced at Draco before getting up and going over to her dresser, "I'm getting ready for bed."

"I'm in your bed," Madge finally seemed to notice, spreading her arms and legs out to feel the vast space around her.

"Yes, and when I get back you are going to have to shove over," she said with a smile before walking out of her room, pajamas in hand.

"Draco, what happened at my party?" the little girl asked the blonde, "What happened with you and Mione before the Death Eaters got there?"

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, frowning down at the bedspread, "Well…Mione and I were talking and then we got to dancing and then I…kind of…kissed her."

"Did she kiss you back?"

With a little smile, he told her that yes, she had.

"Huh. And you two keep kissing all the time, right?"

With a grimace, he told her that yes, they did.

"Draco, do you love Mione?"

With a long silence, he gave the faintest smile and told her that maybe, he could.

"You liar," she said with a grin as she snuggled down deeper into the bed. He gaped at her, although it looked funny with a smile combined in there.

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You already love her. It's in your eyes," she pointed to her own brown orbs, "Too bad you don't got a mirror."

Another long silence ensued before he turned away a little and muttered, "It's '_have_' not '_got_.'"

Hermione walked back into the room to find that Madge was laughing as hard as she could with Draco turned a little bit away from her, eyes downcast and his face getting a little pink.

"Hermione!" he jumped up once he saw her, "Perfect! You're here and I can go!"

"Why?" she looked between the two, "What happened?"

"Nothing," he paused at the door to glare at Madge, who was grinning cheekily at him, "That you need to worry about. Goodnight, Ladies."

"Night Drakey!" Madge said as Hermione waved at him and turned out the lights. She picked Madge up and set her over on one side of the bed, only to have her snuggle into her once she got in the bed. She chuckled and stroked her hair, humming a little as she did.

"My mum used to sing that song to me," Madge told her after a minute or two, "When I was little, she'd sing me to sleep with that song. Did your mum sing you to sleep with that song too, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled down at her, "Yes, she did. When I was sick and at home she'd sing it to me then too."

Madge hummed and then sighed, "Goodnight, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Madge."

* * *

"Hermione…Hermione…Mione…Mione! Hermione! WAKE UP, YOU NUTTER!"

Hermione jolted up, nearly smacking Blaise in the head, and glared at him, "_What_?"

"I need you to release your death grip on my sister now, yeah?" he pointed at her hold on the slightly dozing Madge.

"Mione," she sighed, only hugging her closer, "Make him go away."

"No Madge – you need to go home," she said, smoothing down her black hair.

"I don't want to though."

"C'mon Madge, I'll carry you," Blaise offered.

She was silent for a moment before she sighed and spread her arms out, having her older brother chuckle and pick her up. He tipped his head as a little salute and headed to the door, only to have Madge complain loudly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" she said, still sleepily slurring her words, "Hermione! Tell Draco to get a mirror!"

Blaise and Hermione both looked at her strangely, but she was now slumping against his shoulder again. With a shrug, he set off, settling her into a more comfortable position.

Hermione sighed and stood up, stretching out her back as she did. She frowned at the clock once it revealed the time – too early to be up on a Saturday in the summer. She contemplated going back to bed before she froze and smiled into the air.

* * *

Draco sighed, burying his head into his pillow, trying to block out the light. Hermione tiptoed closer to his bed, grinning from ear to ear before she pounced on him, shaking the bed as she did. Draco opened an eye and looked at her as she leaned towards him to look at his face, the smile still in place.

"What do you want, Hermione?" he mumbled into his pillow.

"Good morning, Draco," she said instead, leaning forward to kiss his nose. He rolled his eyes and flung the covers off before grabbing her in his arms, pulling her back into the bed with him. She gasped and tried to escape, but he only held her closer to him, pulling the blankets back over them and snuggling into her.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he murmured to her before pecking her on the nose, smiling at her annoyed expression, "Hey – you should've known this would happen if you tried to wake me up. Don't blame me."

She frowned before rolling her eyes and leaning into him more, totally missing his grin as she closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Draco," she said as he closed his own eyes.

* * *

**[EDIT: 9-18-11] Good gravy, that took long enough, didn't it? But since the last time you heard from me, I've gotten in touch with all my old friends, we bought a house and will be able to move in it sometime early in October, and I'm Lady Becky for our school musical. Oh, and if you guys want _another_ Dramione story, me and my friend Belle are co-authoring one called _Hogwarts: Revisited._ Keep an eye out for it! (Shameless self-advertising – YAY!)**

**This also was un-beta'ed by Lindsay, because I just keep wanting to post it without going through her first. *headlaptop***


	25. Who Are All You People!

***comes out from behind table, grinning sheepishly* Ahaha. Hey guys. So, um, several of you have yelled at me, and I just have to say that I'm currently trying to finish this up as quickly and painlessly as possible. I'm finishing up this (old old _OLD_) chapter in the same style and then doing the next one totally awesomely! No more cheese! But we're skipping over sixth year. So…yeah. Sorry guys, I'm just working on other fanfics and this one has been falling away from me. *dives back behind table with my epic beta, Linzerj.***

* * *

**Street in Front of Malfoy Manor**

"Have you got everything?" Narcissa asked Hermione as she shoved a suitcase into the back of the Ministry car.

"I think so," she said as she leaned further into the suitcase, "If you find something though, could you please owl it to me? I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Mione, you're forgetting something!" Blaise gasped.

"What?" she asked, turning around from the car.

"_Me!_" he rushed forward and hugged her, making her gag, "Hermione, please don't leave me! I'll be stuck with Draco! Don't gooooo!"

She laughed and extracted herself from him, making him pout, "I'm sorry, Blaise, but I have to go home. I'll see you at school, alright?"

"Yes," he hugged her again, although this time with much less force, "You will, and if you ignore me I'll kidnap you and dangle you from the chandelier in the staircase. Hypothetically, of course, I've got no idea how to get you up there."

She laughed again and turned to Madge, who walked up to her with a piece of paper outstretched. Hermione knelt down and took it, seeing a stick figure with brown swirlies helping a smaller stick figure with black swirlies out of a huge mass of blue swirlies. At the bottom was 'BYE HERMIONE' spelled out with the colors of the rainbow. Next to it, was a giant misshapen heart.

Madge hugged her by the neck, "Goodbye, Hermione, I'm going to miss you."

"Aww, Madge," she cooed as she hugged her back, "I'm going to miss you too!"

"Will you come and see me sometime?" she asked as she pulled back.

"I'll try," she smiled as she stood up, tucking the picture in her pocket.

Draco slowly walked up to her, rubbing the back of his neck as he did before sticking out his hand, "Bye, Hermione."

She turned and smiled at him before pulling him into a hug, "I'll miss you too."

He rolled his eyes in her hair and pulled back, "So…I'll write you, if you want."

"I would be very upset if either of you didn't," she grinned before sighing, finally dropping the smile, "I've got to go now."

"Bye, Hermione!" Blaise and Madge said as they closed in on her together.

"Bye guys," she said as Blaise yanked Draco into their hug. Once she was free of teenagers, Narcissa walked forward and hugged her.

"I'll miss you very much, Hermione," she said as she pulled away, "I'm afraid that the next time Lucius leaves, I'll have to kidnap you."

She laughed, "That's fine by me, Mrs. Malfoy." She turned and got in the car, and waved as she left.

* * *

**Granger House, half a month later**

Hermione frowned down at the letter from Ron before scratching a few words out. She let out a big yawn against her will, glancing over at the setting sun and sighing. She leaned back in her chair and scratched the back of her head with a quill. After a silent moment, she got up and walked over to her hammock, book in hand. Halfway there, she heard a tapping on her window.

Turning around to let in an owl, she was surprised to see that Draco was instead leaning on a broom and tapping the glass. Gasping, she flung the book on the hammock and ran to the window, flinging it open with a grin.

"Draco!" she said happily as he climbed through, "What are you doing here?"

"I got bored, had a spare moment and went for it," he shrugged before peering at her, hand to chin, "Have you gotten shorter?"

"No, you prat," she frowned up at him, "You've gotten taller. Again. Why is it that all of my friends grow in the amount of time I don't see them?"

"Maybe you're just shrinking," he said as he surveyed her room, "Pretty soon, you'll be the same size as Professor Flitwick." He glanced over at her and grinned at her glare, "Oh, c'mon Mione, you know I'm just bugging you."

"I know," she said, smirking at him now, "You're just weird like that."

He grinned again before grabbing her arm, towing her to the window, "Alright, let's go."

"Whoa, hold up," she dug her heels in the carpet, "Go _where, _exactly?"

"Oh come on, Hermione," he whirled around and pouted at her, "I haven't been sending you letters for weeks just for you to – "

She cut him off with a glare, "Draco Malfoy…."

"We're going flying," he tried instead, only seeing her freaked out expression a second later.

"No, Draco, no," she started tugging him back, "You _know_ I'm afraid of heights."

"C'mon, Hermione," he started tugging her again, making her lean forwards.

"Dracooooo," she complained before she was tugged to the window. Swinging a leg over the sill and grabbing his broom, he hopped on and looked expectantly at her as she wavered between going and staying.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he promised. She glanced up at him before sighing, taking his hand and standing up on the sill, gripping onto the side with a death grip. She took a deep breath and allowed him to move her over onto the broom, in front of him with her legs on the side. She grimaced, her eyes closed as Draco chuckled at her.

"Open your eyes," he grinned, watching as she peeked an eye open at the ground, only to have her sink into him for comfort.

"Ohhhh crap," she hissed, "Oh crap, oh crap."

"You really are afraid of heights, aren't you?" he smiled at this, making her glance at him and glare as she sank even more into his chest.

"I _told_ you," she muttered, closing her eyes and grimacing again, "Okay, I changed my mind, put me back down."

"Nope!" he said brightly, bringing a hand up to hold her to him by her waist, turning the broom and going higher. She tensed up, hissing again and making him laugh.

"It's no fun if you don't open your eyes," he whispered to her, placing his lips on her temple and trying to keep his eyes trained ahead of him and not on her. She relaxed and opened her eyes.

"Okay, I can do this," she said, mostly to herself.

"Of course you can," he said, his lips quirking into a grin against her skin, "You're Hermione Granger."

And so they flew as the sun set, watching as it turned to night with the stars sparkling brightly above them. Hermione steadily relaxed, only wincing when Draco went faster than she cared to go. Soon enough, they were back at her house, with Draco helping her through the window before he climbed in himself.

"You liked it," he grinned, his gray eyes sparkling at her.

"Perhaps," she hummed as she walked towards her hammock, picking up the abandoned book and setting it on her desk.

"Oh come on, Hermione," he said, flopping onto her hammock and swinging it back and forth lazily, "Admit that you liked it."

"I liked it – _aside_ from the fact that, without you, I could've died."

He closed his eyes and smiled, still swinging, "Great. Now come here."

She grinned as she walked towards him, laying down next to him with her ear over his heart again, "My parents will kill you if they find you here."

"I'll have to leave before they do then," he murmured to her, still swinging, placing his lips on her forehead, "Good night, Hermione."

"Good night, Draco," she said as she closed her eyes, feeling the smile on her skin.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor, Draco's Room**

Draco frowned down at the carpet, his leg bouncing and as he continued to process everything, his mind whirling.

He'd left Hermione asleep in her hammock and went home.

Voldemort as at his house.

His father said that things were going to change.

Voldemort was at his house.

He obviously couldn't see Hermione anymore.

Voldemort was at his house.

He was told to _kill_ Dumbledore.

Volde-freaking-_MORT_ was at his _HOUSE_.

He rubbed his face with his hands, glaring at the wall. How did his summer go from being great to being so terrible?

Stupid Potter. Should've offed Voldemort completely when he had the chance. All his fault.

* * *

**…That was awful. Anyway, umm…yeah. AT LEAST I UPDATED! *ducks back down behind table***


	26. Ooh Mixed Feelings

**I'm so glad that you guys took everything well. Except for the ones that threatened to dangle me from a chandelier and push me off a broom. **_**You**_** lovely little people are getting restraining orders. Everybody else gets hugs. **

**But these last chapters (don't ask me to tell you a specific number, I don't know) are going to be bigger, better, more detailed, more **_**awesomer**_** than all of the previous ones combined. Because I swear I've been holding out on you guys unintentionally.**

**Also, Kayla (kkmyway96) – **

**Your review actually made me quit looking through my reviews and restart this chapter (as I had stopped to party hard – well, as hard as any fifteen year old can). I don't mind being told to get off my butt and start working again in the nicest way possible, and I don't mind having others praise me. I'm glad that you are now entering the world of fanfiction and hope that I see amazing stories from you soon. And by the way – thanks for not griping about Voldemort. I really appreciate it.**

**With all the best of luck to whatever you want the luck for,**

**Birdie (Ava Miranda Dakedavra)**

_**(Seriously, a bunch of the other people got huffy because I put Voldemort in it. I mean, **__**come on.**__** What's a Harry Potter fanfiction without **__**Voldemort**__**?)**_

**And now – we begin! *strikes an 'ole' pose***

_**(I BORROWED A WHOLE LOT OF THIS CHAPTER FROM THE DEATHLY HALLOWS BOOK. **__**"Malfoy Manor" **__**IN CASE YOU WANTED TO KNOW.)**_

**….**

* * *

**In a Forest**

Draco had cut off all contact with her after sending her a letter that said that he didn't want to see her anymore. It'd broken her heart and enraged all of the Weasleys and Harry. Soon they were back to normal and hating him – which meant that Ron didn't really change all that much. Alicia threatened to dye his hair pink when she heard, and Daniel and Phillip were ready to hunt him down and beat him up, as were Bill, Charlie, Fred, Harry, George and Ron. She'd had no idea her family and friends cared so much for her.

Sixth year came with a paranoid Harry, who was also so smitten with one Ginny Weasley that it was sickening; an annoying Ron who had gone out with Lavender and made her feel like she was losing both of her boys (she, of course, didn't tell Harry this when she broke down on the staircase because the boy would then never leave her alone) and an icy Draco – sorry, _Malfoy_ – with a torn Blaise between them.

Dumbledore had died and left Harry, her and Ron to go hunt down Horcruxes. The diary, ring and locket were all taken care of, but they still had more to find. Ron had thrown a fit and left, leaving her and Harry to nearly get killed by Nagini and Voldemort, which left Harry's wand to get broken. Ron came back and saved Harry's life while also killing the soul in the locket with the sword of Gryffindor – how it got in the lake, nobody knows.

And now here she was, panting and practically flying through the forest as Ron, Harry and some Snatchers ran either ahead or behind her. Thankfully, Ron and Harry were the ones ahead and not the other way around.

_Oh Godric,_ she thought as she barely dodged a tree, _We're going to get caught, we're going to die, my side is going to kill me before they can!_ As she heard the Snatchers get closer, she quickly took out her wand and hit Harry, wincing a little as he smacked face-first into a tree. Well, nobody said that the Stinging Jinx would ever improve your visibility, but they never said it'd leave you _blind_ either. She screamed as somebody picked her up and hoisted her over their shoulder.

"Put me down! Put me down!" she ordered, thumping against his back as he threw her wand to another of his gang. Ron was struggling and cursing as loudly as he could, and Harry was just regaining his balance from hitting the tree.

"Get – off – her!" Ron growled before he was punched roughly in the face, making Hermione gasp and struggle harder.

"No! Leave him alone, leave him alone!" she panted as she shoved against the Snatcher – Merlin, why did men have to have great grip?

"Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said the man who punched Ron. "Delicious girl…What a treat…I do enjoy the softness of the skin…."

Hermione felt like barfing when she realized that this was Fenrir Greyback. Great, they were dead either way. Or at least she was.

"Search the tent!" another Snatcher said, the one holding her throwing her down on the ground with Ron as Harry was shoved down face first. Footsteps and crashes told them that they were knocking over things to see what was there.

"Now, let's see who we've got," Greyback said, going over to Harry as he was being flipped over on his back. He suddenly laughed at his swollen face, "I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"

Harry was silent for a few moments before he was punched in the stomach, which made him double up in pain.

"I _said_," Greyback growled, "what happened to you?"

"Stung," Harry muttered, "Been stung."

"Yeah, looks like it," somebody said from over her shoulder. She and Ron exchanged disgusted glances, but quickly turned their attention back to Harry.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Dudley," Harry answered.

_Honestly, Harry – Dudley_? She chided him in her mind, _Do better, please._

"And your first name?"

"I – Vernon. Vernon Dudley." _I said do better, Harry! I don't want to be calling you 'Vernon' __**or**__ 'Dudley'!_

"Check the list, Scabior," Greyback ordered as he moved to Ron, "And what about you, ginger?"

"Stan Shunpike," he answered, instantly making Hermione's stomach drop. _You idiot!_

"Like 'ell you are," Scabior said, "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way."

Ron was punched in the mouth, and the next time he spoke blood dripped down onto his shirt, "I'b Bardy, Bardy Weadley."

"A Weasley?" Greyback practically brightened at that, "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And, lastly, your pretty little friend…." The tone of his voice made her skin crawl.

"Easy, Greyback," Scabior reminded him.

"Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if she's a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. Who are you, girly?"

"Penelope Clearwater," she sounded terrified, she noted with despair.

"What's your blood status?"

Oh Merlin – she didn't pick a Pureblood! Crap! "Half-blood."

"Easy enough to check," Scabior said, coming around to view the three, "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be 'ogwarts age – "

"We'b lebt," Ron said. His mouth was still oozing bright red, and she'd gladly take watching him chew with his mouth open than watch him bleed.

"Left, 'ave you, ginger? And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lord's name?"

"Nod a laugh," he quickly spat into the ground and she felt like vomiting again as she watched him do so, "Aggiden."

"Accident?" There was laughter from those around, and she resisted the urge to bang her head against something.

"You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley?" Greyback growled, "The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"

"Doh."

"Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bring them up with the other two prisoners!"

Someone yanked her by the hair and she let out a yelp of pain before she was plunked down on a seat and bound back-to-back with other people. She glanced and saw that Harry was to her right, Ron to his. He was squinting out at the darkness, his new puffy face red and inflamed. She was sorry to be so close to him, partially because she felt bad for what'd she'd done and partially because it was so _gross_ to be near.

"Anyone still got a wand?" he whispered.

"No," she and Ron answered.

"This is all my fault," he hung his head a little, "I said the name, I'm sorry – "

"Harry?"

Hermione turned and found that Dean Thomas was sitting next to her. She blinked at him as Harry placed the voice.

"_Dean?_"

"It _is_ you!" he gasped, "If they find out who they've got - ! They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold – "

"Now a bad little haul for one night," Greyback was saying, "A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and three truants. You checked their names on the list yet, Scabior?"

"Yeah. There's no Vernon Dudley on 'ere, Greyback."

"Interesting. That's interesting."

She was left to watch as Harry somehow miraculously lied about being a Slytherin who had a father at the Ministry, the Snatchers finding Godric's sword and then Scabior reading aloud from the Prophet. And that's never good.

"''_ermione Granger, the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter.'"_ She could've died then and there.

"You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you," Greyback said as he crouched down to her.

"It isn't! It isn't me!" For a Gryffindor, that was such a pitiful sound. She felt ashamed of herself beyond her fear.

Greyback stood up and stared at Harry, repeating the line from the Prophet as he did before somebody found Harry's glasses and shoved them on his face. Hermione closed her eyes in defeat and listened as Dean went unnoticed and rubbed comforting circles into her shoulder with his.

Greyback was suddenly snarling, "No, I haven't got – they say he's using the Malfoy's place as a base. We'll take the boy there."

And that was when Hermione noticed that her life really did suck.

* * *

**Malfoy Manor**

"What is this?" his father asked, turning both of their attentions to the small group pulling into the room. Draco's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at them. Greyback, Scabior and a few other Snatchers were pulling in a goblin and some Gryffindor in the back, three people in the front. There was some fat-faced person trying to impersonate Potter – he couldn't tell if they were doing well or not. Wait, was that Weasley? Weasley, with the blood stains on his chin and shirt? So that meant –

He probably could've screamed as he studied her, her eyes trained on the floor and refusing to look up at him. He quickly adverted his gaze to the actual Potter, who had suddenly decided to look like either Crabbe or Goyle. What the hell?

His mother made her way over to them, wringing her hands. This was her scared gesture – when she was mad she'd clench her fists, sad she'd play with her fingers, happy she'd swing them back and forth a little. You could always see what she was thinking by her hands, and right now she was terrified.

"They say they've got Potter. Draco, come here," she said, acting as if she wasn't scared to death at what she was going to do – at what she wanted _Draco_ to do.

He got closer and kept his gaze on the portrait of his great grandfather, Denzin the fifth. He would've jumped out of his skin, if not that it wasn't a Malfoy thing to do, when he heard Greyback speak.

"Well, boy?"

"Well, Draco? Is it?" Lucius was next to him, "Is it Harry Potter?"

"I can't – I can't be sure," he mumbled before his father pushed him closer before he launched into an argument with Greyback. Harry was looking off at a mirror, and Draco's eyes had moved on to his twenty-seventh great aunt, Lenore. He could practically feel the tension in the room, and he wanted to go and hide somewhere in the house. Anywhere to get rid of this situation.

"Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?" he heard from his father.

Draco took a few seconds before finally saying, "I don't know," and walking back to his mother. As his back was turned to everybody but her, he conveyed with her through his eyes that he was freaked out. Her eyes showed the same.

"We had better be certain, Lucius," she said, glancing at Draco before turning to the wand in her hand, "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord…They say that this is his but it does not resemble Ollivander's description….If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing…Remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"

"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback growled before Hermione was shoved forward in front of Harry. Draco and Narcissa both paled as Lucius lit up.

"Wait," he said sharply, "Yes – yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the _Prophet_! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"

Her eyes were on his, her heart thudding loudly. _Draco, please, don't_, she begged with her eyes, _Please, Draco, please._

"I…" he was getting ready to shape a 'no way, that's some other chick, never seen her before in my life' before his father interrupted.

"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" he shouted, striding to Ron, "It's them, Potter's friends – Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what' his name - ?"

He turned his back on them, finding it hard to do anything with her eyes on him, "It could be."

The door opened and he could've groaned as he heard his aunt ask, "What's this? What's happened, Cissy?" More clicks before she breathed, "But surely this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"

"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" cried Lucius, "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"

Bellatrix gave a laugh before she growled at Lucius, who had been tugging the sleeve of his shirt up, ready to touch his Dark Mark. They two then wrestled as Draco watched Hermione being dragged back by Greyback. He wouldn't be able to do much to help Ron, or Harry or even that Gryffindor – Merlin, what was his name? – but maybe he could convince them to let him have her. Pretend to kill her but instead make her run far, far away. This couldn't be happening.

"Don't!" Bellatrix screeched, "If we summon him now, we're all dead!"

_Of course we are_, Draco thought as he saw her go over to a Snatcher and rip a sword out of his hand, yelling at him and Stunning a few. Once Greyback told her that it had been in their tent and she'd told him to move the unconscious men, he dragged them out into the hall and told a house-elf to take them outside. He listened in the shadow of the doorway.

"Take these prisoners to the cellar, Greyback," his mother said.

"Wait," Bellatrix stopped them, "All except…except for the Mudblood."

Draco slid down the wall and held his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. What would he do? What could he do? She needed him and here he was hiding. He bit his lip and stood up, tiptoeing over to Blaise's.

* * *

Blaise's stomach dropped as he heard the screams, watching from the corner of his eyes as Draco turned pale.

"Luna, Potter, Weasley and Ollivander are in the dungeon," he whispered, "We've got to hurry before she does something to her."

"Is that Hermione?" Blaise whispered back as they headed down the stairs.

"Why else would I be doing this?" he said before unlatching the door, nearly being attacked by somebody.

"No – Ron – _STOP!_" Luna hissed at him, "It's Draco!"

"I know that!" Ron growled as Draco kicked at him.

"Let go of me, you idiot!" he hissed, "I'm trying to save your arse!"

"What?" Ron blinked, loosening his hold on him as Draco popped out of his grasp and took a deep breath.

"He's been in love with Hermione this whole time," Luna frowned at him.

"Oh yeah?" Harry huffed, "Prove it."

"Look – do you _really_ want me to confess how much I love her, or do you want to go stop my sick, psycho aunt from killing her?" Draco glared before shoving the wands in his hand, gently handing Luna hers. "Mister Ollivander, a house-elf will take you to a friend of Hermione's in Bulgaria in a few minutes."

"Ooh, did you say hello to Viktor for me?" Luna smiled.

"Err – sure," he shrugged as they began to head out, being stopped at the doorway as Wormtail stepped through. His beady little eyes widened before he opened his mouth, making Harry hiss "Silencio!" the same time Draco yelped "Expelliarmus!" Disarmed and silenced, Wormtail flung himself at Harry, his silver hand wrapped around his neck.

"Harry, if you can – hand us our wands now!" Dean – that was his name! – hissed, "We'll try to help you!"

Harry only gasped and tugged at the hand, "You're going to kill me? After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"

Eyes still wide, the hand drug itself away from Harry's neck, instead going for its owner's. Harry gasped and tugged at the wrist, leaning back all the way to get him to stop. Draco, Ron, Blaise and Dean all grabbed and tugged, but by the time he was free it was too late. Once they let go, he dropped to the floor.

"Ooh," Luna murmured, "Mixed feelings. But – Hermione!" With that reminder, they all ran upstairs as a house-elf took Ollivander to Krum's house.

"How did you get into my vault?" Bellatrix hissed.

"We – we," Hermione was sobbing, "It w-was – "

"CRUCIO!"

Hermione screamed louder this time, making Narcissa finally yell at her crazed sister. She'd had her back turned to the corner, her hands gripping her forearms as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Bella! She was answering you!"

"Not fast enough!" she growled back.

"Let the girl breathe, you don't give her enough time to breathe to answer!"

"I shall decide when the girl breathes – CRUCIO!"

Hermione screamed again, loud and long and drawn out. Draco walked calmly in, making his mother draw in a breath as he stepped towards his aunt and looked down at Hermione. He turned to Bellatrix, who was looking at him as if he were the insane one.

"May I try?" he asked, holding up his wand.

Bellatrix grinned and stepped back, "Finally, you decide to be a Deatheater."

Draco pointed his wand at Hermione, watching as she closed her eyes and waited for it.

"I bet you didn't expect this, hm?" he asked, still as calm as he could be. Narcissa gripped onto Lucius' arm, making him hiss in pain.

"If my baby becomes a murderer, I will _kill_ you, Lucius," she hissed to him.

"He wouldn't," he mumbled back. "It's not him."

"Stand up," Draco said, stooping down and picking Hermione up by her arm. Narcissa watched as he helped her up, steadying her when she faltered a little. Hermione was pale, with tear tracks running down her face. She opened her eyes and looked up into his, but he showed no emotion on his face, instead looking more like he was concentrating.

As she was getting to her feet, Draco tugged her into his chest and – with a pop – was gone.

"No!" Bellatrix shrieked as Narcissa relaxed her grip on Lucius' arm. "Where's the sword? _Where's the sword?_"

* * *

**Viktor Krum's House, Bulgaria**

Hermione gasped as she fell into Draco's chest, feeling his arms wrap around her as he fell back onto a couch and pulled her into his lap.

"Hermione," he murmured as he buried his face in her neck, "I'm so sorry."

"You – you," she breathed deeply, staring at his shoulder, "You didn't – "

"I never planned on it," he told her, running a hand through her hair, "You had to have known that."

She pulled back and stared at him before punching him lightly in the shoulder, "Don't _toy_ with me like that, Malfoy!"

He smiled down at her and helped her stand to face her friends. Luna was tending to Dean's face, as it was cut and bruised. Ron and Harry looked relieved to see that she was alive. Blaise was grinning and holding something in his hand, something long and silver and –

She gasped, "You got the sword?"

"I missed you too, Hermione," Blaise frowned before rolling his eyes, "Yes, we got the sword."

"Potter said we needed it," Draco shrugged, slipping a hand to her waist and tugging her into his side.

"We do," she breathed before freezing, turning to Draco, "Has your aunt got a cup in her vault?"

"Oh yeah, loads," he said absentmindedly, "There's one that looks like it belongs to a Hufflepuff or something, which is weird because – what?"

Hermione, Harry and Ron were exchanging glances as he, Blaise and Dean looked between each other. Luna was still humming as she wrapped gauze around Dean's head.

"How can we get in?" Ron asked.

"Polyjuice should work – I'm sure I've got hair on me somewhere," Hermione answered.

"I've got the cloak and the pouch Hagrid gave me – put the sword in there," Harry shrugged.

"I've got some skin on my face that isn't mine!" Ron said brightly.

"What?" Blaise blinked.

"We're going to sneak into Bellatrix's vault," Ron said proudly.

"You mean you didn't before?" Dean arched an eyebrow at them, "But now that they've given you the idea, you want to go do it?"

"Are you _mad_?" a voice from the doorway said, making them look and see that Krum was looking between the people in his living room warily.

"Viktor?" Hermione asked, blinking.

"Herm-own-ninny," he smiled a little, "I haff missed you, but – are you still sane? Ollivander and the goblin told me you haff been tortured, and that is never good on the brain."

"She'll be fine – she had plenty to spare before," Blaise grinned before frowning at her, "You aren't going."

"I'll go!" Luna said brightly.

"Oh no you won't!" Blaise yelped as he jumped nearly ten feet in the air.

"Why not?" she asked innocently.

"Because – because I will stop you," he said, puffing out his chest.

Luna stared at him for a moment before calmly reaching out and grabbing his arm, twisting it with both hands and making him crumple to the floor.

"It burns!" he yelled as he grabbed at his arm, "Oh Merlin – it burns!"

"How'd you know to do an Indian arm burn, Luna?" Hermione asked as Draco blinked at his friend.

"Daddy taught me," she smiled before it faltered, "Have you seen Daddy lately?"

"Yeah – he's really worried about you, Luna," Harry answered.

She nodded before she frowned now, "I am going. Hermione, Blaise and Draco can work together and figure out what the other things you need are."

"But they haffn't got Harry and Ron," Viktor mused.

"No – but they _do_ have their brain," Dean grinned at Hermione, "They'll be fine. Luna _is_ in Ravenclaw, and she's a great fighter. You should've seen her take out Scabior and Acne Pete."

"Acne Pete?" Viktor repeated as he, Hermione and Draco raised their eyebrows.

"That's what I called him," he shrugged before frowning, "What am I supposed to do?"

Before anybody else could say anything, Blaise stuck his head up, "Go back to the D.A. Tell them to start getting ready."

Dean nodded as he stood up and got ready to Apparate, "I'll go to Neville's house. I'll tell him you said 'hey.' Oh, and 'don't die.' That'll be good too." With a smile and a waved, he popped away.

"Bellatrix hair, please?" Luna asked, offering her hand to Hermione. Hermione picked out a few curls and placed them in her hand as Viktor ushered Luna upstairs.

"We'll need Griphook's help too," Harry hummed, "That'd be good."

"Harry – _please_ don't get yourself killed. You always seem to try to do so when I turn my back," Hermione frowned at him. "Same to you, Ron."

They grinned at her before heading upstairs to either talk to Griphook or go help Luna with the potion.

"I missed this," Blaise said from the floor as Hermione sat on the sofa, "Just us three. It's nice."

"Aside from the 'life or death' situation," Draco said, "That's rather off-putting."

"Well…yeah," Blaise winced before sitting up and grinning at the two. Draco smiled back as Hermione gave a little laugh.

* * *

**I tried to change it up after a while. I mean, you guys have already read the Deathly Hallows, you don't need me re-typing it for you. ****J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all the events that happened in it and all of the characters used in it.**** I just felt like I should mention that. **

**Review if you've ever had an Indian Arm Burn! *raises red arm* It hurts like a hippogriff! *raises bandaged arm* *waves both arms* Bye! See ya next chapter!**


	27. Hey, Dragons

**A-whoop! I'm feeling inspired with this chapter! :D **

**Now a lot of you are asking questions and are sad that there isn't as much lightness in these chapters as there was in the earlier chapters. I'm sorry about that, and I'll try to pick it back up, and all of your questions _will_ be answered so long as it falls in with the plot. **

**And oh my gosh, guys – you have no idea how hard it is to not type the lyrics to "Hey Dragon" after Hermione asks what they were thinking. It's just – so – _hard_. *twitches***

* * *

**Viktor Krum's House, Bulgaria**

"A _dragon_? You rode a bloody dragon?" Hermione screeched at a dripping wet Harry, Ron, Griphook and Luna. Luna still had the insane curls of Bellatrix, though her hair was its usual blonde. "What were you _thinking_?"

"Ooh!" Blaise's hand shot up and he bounced on his toes, "Lemme, lemme, lemme!"

Hermione sighed and waved her hand to Blaise to let him speak.

"They _weren't_," he grinned.

"Exactly," Hermione nodded before turning back to them, watching as Luna's hair deflated slowly and fell into her eyes. "Are you aware that you could've Apparated?"

"Well _now_ we are," Ron mumbled.

"Are you aware that you could've hidden?"

"Err – " Harry fidgeted and looked down at his feet.

"Are you aware that you could've been _eaten_?"

"I haff just one question," Viktor said before turning to Harry, trying to fight a smile, "_Vhy_ did you not summon your Firebolt again?"

Harry and Ron snickered as Hermione growled.

"All of you boys are bloody immature! You know what? You can all just get yourselves _killed_ for all I care!" she then stomped up the stairs, making those left behind tense.

"Well," Blaise muttered as he began to edge away, "Umm…somebody should really, you know…."

"Go talk to her – yah," Viktor and Harry were backing into the library.

"I completely agree," Harry said, "Ron, you do it!" He, Viktor and Blaise all fled, leaving Ron standing there and dripping with Griphook and Luna.

Ron sighed, "Of course I have to do it."

"Should've said 'not it,'" Luna waved before going after Blaise. Griphook looked up at him before walking away, dragging the tip of the sword along with him. 

* * *

"Err – Hermione?"

"What, Ron?" Hermione practically growled.

Ron shrank back, "Umm – why are you sitting on the roof?"

"Because everybody's all idiots."

He paused before asking warily, "So – so you're imitating a bird?"

She blinked and turned to him to look at him funny, which he took as an invitation to hurry and sit next to her. "Look, Hermione, we're sorry. We get how worried you are about us. But we're fine, so…just, just stop freaking out about it, okay?"

She sighed, "Ron…I'm not just worried. I'm scared. I'm terrified, actually. I mean, you know what I did to my parents. I'm scared that they'll still find out and – and – "

Ron bumped her shoulder with his, "Don't hyperventilate on me, okay? I can't go jumping off of roofs because you stink at impersonating birds."

Her mouth gave a little twitch at that before she put her head on his shoulder, "Thanks, Ron."

He nodded back, proud of himself for making her happy before he blinking, "Hey, I've got another question. Or a few, actually?"

"What?" she sighed.

"Why do you trust Malfoy and Zabini?" he asked, making her pick her head up to look at him.

She only smiled, "He could've killed me Ron."

"Exactly!"

"No – Ron, he could've killed me," she was still smiling as it slowly dawned on him, "Ron, he's betrayed his family to help us. The least he deserves is our trust." She stood up carefully before dusting off the seat of her pants, "And that means yours and Harry's too. Put behind all the childish little notions and grow up. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go give the same speech to Harry."

Ron watched as she ducked back inside, intending on finding their friend, before he sighed and looked up at the sky, frowning. "Why does she _always_ have to be right?"

* * *

**That was short. Mostly because I forgot all about what I had intended for this chapter. Now let me pull together what I can for the next chapter.**


	28. Because of Us

**Guys, I am so sorry about this. What I've done – it's inexcusable. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.**

**This will probably be it – but I'll make it long and good, I swear. Because I just – I don't have the drive to keep this going. There's nothing motivating me enough to continue it on longer – and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am.**

**But a fun little fact that I learned today – Emma Watson had a crush on Tom Felton. I like to believe that she still does. **

**So…here we go…for the last time…is anybody else getting sentimental or is it just me?**

* * *

**Hogwarts**

"Hermione!" somebody grabbed her elbow, tugging her back and away from a jet of green light. She whirled around and tried to smile at Blaise, but instead of him smiling back, he only held her shoulders and stared at her seriously.

"Go," he demanded.

"What?" she blinked, "Blaise, what are you - ?"

"Go and hide, Hermione. Somebody will come and get you when it's over."

"What? No!" she frowned back, "Blaise, I have to – if I don't, I'd – "

"No, I know, but Hermione, _you can't get hurt_," he insisted, "If any of us are gone, it's fine, but you and Harry are the important ones. If Harry doesn't have you to keep him together after this, then we're all goners."

"No," she insisted.

"Please, Hermione, not even for me – for Draco," he begged, making her falter, "Please, Hermione, do it for Draco. He cares about you – please, just…just stay safe."

"I will," she nodded, pulling away from him, "But I'm not going to hide, Blaise."

He sighed and shook his head at her, smiling weakly, "You are incredibly stubborn."

She shrugged a shoulder, smiling back at him, trying to stop the thoughts that this could be the last time she'd ever see him, "Thanks. I learned from you two."

He gave a short laugh before sprinting off to where he was needed, Hermione watching him go before heading off into another direction. She weaved through the throngs of people and fights, taking down Death Eaters whenever she could. Her lungs were aching in her chest, her legs protesting with every push she made against the earth, but she ran on.

She grabbed Ginny's arm as she stumbled out of the castle, tears running down her face, "Ginny? You alright?"

"I'm gonna kill the bastard that murdered my brother," she growled, surprising her before she gave a weak smile and walked along beside her. They froze when they saw that something was coming out of the forest. Ginny's hand shot out to hers as Hermione squinted out.

"Harry Potter is dead," her heart plummeted into her stomach and her brain shut off, "He was running to protect himself."

"Liar!" Neville exclaimed, stumbling forward, "Harry loved us!"

"Why would he love you?" Bellatrix smirked, "He had no reason to. It's not as if any of you were _family…._" She trailed off, the other Death Eaters following her line of sight, where somebody was thrown onto the ground.

Hermione broke free from everyone as she screamed, rushing to him and looking over him worriedly.

"Phil!" she choked, smoothing back his hair from his face as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. His glasses were broken in several areas, cuts along his face along with dirt. He whimpered and shut his eyes again, gripping her hand.

"I can't feel my legs," he said as she began to cry as well, "Hermione, I can't feel them."

"We'll fix them, don't worry," she promised before whipping her head up and glaring at them.

"You spent so much time worrying over your parents, you forgot about your cousins," Bellatrix smirked, holding up Alicia by her hair as she pouted, tears running down her face as she stared at her baby brother.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Daniel snarled, being held back by Greyback.

"No, no, I put them in France," Hermione whimpered, clutching her hair.

"Not good enough, Poppet," one Death Eater said, cackling, "It was easy to find them and make them remember what really went on."

"We'll make a deal, Granger," Voldemort said, attracting the attention of the family, "We'll leave your family alone if you leave. Leave the wizarding world entirely and never return."

Hermione blinked at him as Phillip tugged on her hand, making her look back at him. He looked up at her pleadingly, his lips barely moving.

"Bad guys should never win," he whispered, making her look back to Voldemort as she stood.

"Let them go," she demanded.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Let them go," she insisted, harsher this time.

"You heard her," Draco stepped up beside her before stooping down next to Phillip, "Let them go."

"Draco," Lucius hissed as Narcissa stared wide eyed at her son. "Stop it."

"Yeah Tom," somebody said, making everyone look up and gasp as Harry stood on a broom and smirked down at him, "Stop it. Once and for all."

"Alicia, run!" Daniel ordered, kicking Bellatrix in the back of the knees to make her wobble. Alicia shot out and ran for her brother and cousin, dropping down beside the former as Hermione and Draco dashed towards Daniel.

"You filthy little Muggle!" Bellatrix growled, aiming her wand at the squirming Daniel.

"No!" Hermione yelled, rushing towards her cousin as Draco ran towards his aunt.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The immediate area froze, Greyback included as Daniel stared wide eyed at his cousin. Hermione blinked and turned back to the werewolf before stunning him, rushing towards the older boy and hugging him tightly, making him wince and grin down at her.

"Mum," Draco blinked, gaping at the lifeless form.

Narcissa stepped over her sister and embraced her son, petting his hair and attempting not to cry, "She wasn't my sister anymore. Hadn't been for years. I just never noticed – I'm so sorry, Draco."

"I'm sorry," he muffled into her shoulder, hugging her back tightly, "So sorry, Mum."

"Don't be – you haven't done anything," she insisted as Daniel limped towards his siblings, Hermione hanging back anxiously with her wand in her hands. "It was entirely my fault."

"Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione shrieked and whirled around as Draco and Narcissa pulled apart. Lucius was glaring at them, nudging away a fallen Death Eater with his foot.

"We really shouldn't be having heart-to-hearts in the middle of a _battle_," he frowned at his family before softening, "That's after we've won."

"Who's won?" Draco asked.

Lucius nodded towards Hermione, whose eyes were wide as she stared at them, "Hers. Theirs. Ours."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled before shaking her head and getting her 'Game Face' back on, "We aren't done yet."

"No – nowhere near it," Draco shook his head as well, "But how's Phillip?"

"We need someone to look after him – but they've headed inside so I'd doubt Pomfrey can fix him this minute," she bit her lip, eyeing her cousins as they watched her. "I need to go to them."

"Right, yeah, see you later – stay safe, Hermione," he added as an afterthought before he and his parents ran back into the castle.

"You're a witch," Alicia sniffed as Daniel calmed Phillip down.

"Yeah," Hermione shrugged awkwardly as she kneeled down.

"I hate you."

"Alicia," Daniel frowned at her as Hermione winced.

"Do you understand how many times I've wanted to use magic and you're just over there _born_ with it?" she snorted, rolling her eyes, "Not fair."

"I love you too," Hermione laughed, tears running down her face again as she helped Daniel pick up Phillip, the younger boy grimacing and biting the inside of his cheek as he was shifted, his arms wrapped around their shoulders, Daniel crouching so he and Hermione could be the same height. Ron jogged over to them, a dazed sort of look on his face.

"Ron, what is it?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"He did it," he mumbled.

"Who did what, Ron?" she insisted, a slightly hysterical lilt to her voice.

"Harry," he blinked, "Harry did it."

* * *

**Platform 9 and 3/4, years later….**

"But Daddy – why does he get to go and I don't?"

He stooped down and smiled at his daughter, pushing her curly hair back behind her ears, "Because if you left too, we'd miss you very much."

"But Teddy – " she began.

"But Teddy is eleven – you'll be able to go when you're eleven too, just like your brother and everyone else," Draco chuckled before scooping her up in his arms, pecking her on the nose, "But, we won't dwell on that."

"Why not?" Cali asked as she laid her head on her father's shoulder, blonde falling near blonde as he walked towards the others.

"Because that means you'll have to leave, and then I'd get sad," he insisted as he weaved through some people.

"Will you get sad when Scorp leaves?"

"Yes – I'll miss both of you terribly when you're gone."

"Did Grandmother and Grandfather miss you?"

"Mum, yes, she wrote to me every day. Dad? Dad…missed me, he just wouldn't say it outright," he chuckled.

"I think I'll miss you too," Cali murmured as Draco glanced down and smiled.

Phillip grinned up at him, a set of books on his knees as he rolled his wheelchair towards his sister and cousin, both of which were convincing their sons that they'd be brilliant wizards soon enough, although Ron was watching his wife and son and attempting not to laugh.

"Hey, Cali," he grinned up at her, "You upset you can't go to Hogwarts yet either?"

"Yeah," she pouted down at him, pulling away from her father's shoulder.

"At least you're able to go – I don't get to go _at all_," he grinned as she gaped at him in horror.

"Is she alright?" Hermione asked as she stood, Scorpius leaning dully against her leg as he stared enviously at the scarlet train. She trailed a hand through his crazy brown hair, looking curiously at her husband and daughter.

"Yeah – we're alright, right?" Draco asked, smiling when she nodded and reaching to peck Hermione on the side of her head. She smiled and pecked him back, taking Cali out of his arms and hugging her.

"Look at the bright side – when you finally do go, you'll be big enough to do stuff you can't do now because you're younger," she reasoned.

"I just wanna ride on the train and play Quidditch," Scorpius told his mother as he looked up at her curiously, "I don't want to go to school yet."

Draco rolled his eyes and smiled at his wife, "Of course. How is he your son?"

"I don't know," she sighed, smiling at her son softly.

"Bye!" Teddy yelled out of the train window, waving furiously with a mad grin on his face.

"Bye Teddy, we love you!" Ginny yelled back.

"Love you too!"

"It's begun," Blaise sighed, waving as the train began to move forward.

"What is it, you barmy loon?" Draco sighed, turning to his friend as Hermione set Cali down and let her go chase after Jace, Blaise and Luna's son, and Scorpius as Nymph skipped along behind her friends and brother.

"The kids – they've started leaving," he frowned, "I feel old."

"We are old," Draco insisted.

"Not _that_ old," Hermione said, grinning as she bumped his hip with hers, making him grin back and pull her into his side. He kissed her hair, tugging on the ends a little to make her frown up at him.

"Yeah – we're not that old yet," he chuckled as she grabbed her hair away from him and pulled it back.

"Still feels like we're fifteen some days," Blaise smiled fondly at the couple.

"Feels like we have the mentality of a fifteen year old," Draco snorted, rolling his eyes and grinning at his best friend and his wife as she snaked her arms around his waist.

He picked through her hair again as her eyes watched their kids chase after Daniel, Blaise soon leaving them behind and joining in soon enough. He glanced down at her, smiling before he kissed her. She pulled back and smiled at him, laying her head back on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her waist.

And to think, he wouldn't have had all of this if they hadn't had blown up a potion and been forced to spend two months together.

* * *

**I – I just…thank you guys so much for sticking it through all of the crap. You guys have made it through my first Harry Potter fanfiction and my first Dramione fanfiction. You have done it. You've made this with me. If you want some more info on Cali, Jace, Scorpius, and any of the other kiddies that aren't canon, feel free to ask, unless you don't have an account. If that is the case, you can follow the link on my bio (the first one, unless you want to ask my RP blog) and you can ask me anonymously. I'll answer in depth too, because I have a _lot_ of stuff to say about these guys.**

**And now…it's over…my babies…are…gone….**


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